Hook and Ladder 8
by purenonsense
Summary: Five years after the Gozer incident, things have changed for the worse. Kitty and Angie were finally getting on with their lives when the boys plowed right back in, taking them on another whirlwind adventure. But things have changed drastically; will they be able to get over the past, or will evil finally win? SEQUEL TO APARTMENT 22B. COMPLETED: March 24th, 2013
1. A Hole In First Avenue

I don't not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed.

* * *

FIVE YEARS LATER

The streets where lined with people, all trying to get home to be with their families so close to the holidays. The shops were littered with people trying to get the very best gift for their loved ones, giving little care to the people around them. the shopping leaked into the streets, people carrying heavy bags full of ugly sweaters, twelve-year-old fruitcakes, and expensive toys that the children that were to play with them would more than likely play with the box instead.

The initial feeling of Christmas was gone. The joy and wonderment of the holidays shifted after about thirteen, having learned that want most people cared about were cheap presents.

That's why Kitty and Angie weren't doing the whole 'gift' thing this year, opting to make gifts this year to prove how much the other person really meant to them. Of course, this had nothing to do with the fact that they were both completely broke and couldn't afford gifts this year. They both decided that they'd want electricity and heat instead of another throw blanket. Kitty didn't like this idea, she loved giving gifts and the fact that she couldn't afford anything special killed her.

Kitty walked through the crowds of New York, her tennis shoes keeping her on her toes as she dodged the people, the bags of groceries in her arms swinging back and forth. She gave passing apologies as she weaved her way through the toxic crowd, all preoccupied with their own lives to move out of the way.

It had been five years since they'd moved to New York, so Kitty was getting good at telling where she was in the city. However, what boggled her mind at the moment was how she got from her nice, cozy apartment in Washington Heights all the way to the other side of Manhattan on First Avenue?

A content sigh escaped her lips as she paused on the side walk, causing the already angry New Yorkers to scoff as they walked around her. She lowered the grocery bags in her arms, disappointed that she'd gone all over the city, spent the last of her money on groceries only to have to pay a cab to drive her home with no money. Walking was out of the question, and the subway was too expensive right now.

She was stuck.

Kitty moved to the side, getting out of the way after getting some rather rude comments from the other people using that side walk. Her head was pounding, either from her mistake or from the stupid construction guy behind her using a jackhammer at ten o'clock. She was almost sure it was the jackhammer, as it would cut in and out, like the person using it wasn't used to something like it before.

Kitty whipped her head around, ready to unleash a barrage of insults that the past five years of living in New York had taught her, when she was stopped by her own conscience. She knew him.

The man wielding the jackhammer stood, straddling a rather large hole in the middle of First Avenue as he used the machine, timidly drilling into the asphalt street. Under a Con Edison hat, Kitty could make the tired features of the scientist who had helped her once before, his 'disguise' a terrible one as she saw right through it.

"Egon?" Kitty asked, her brows creasing as she approached the 'Con Ed' man. He cut he eyes towards her, a look of fear flashed on his protruding features as he swallowed. What was she doing here?

Kitty asked again, this time getting a little bit more brazen. She dropped the brown paper bag groceries as she walked past the orange traffic cones that they had set up as a safety measure. "Egon? What are you doing here?"

"Kitty?" Egon asked, hoping for his sake that he was wrong. Though, that doubt quickly faded when Kitty smiled at her name, her delicate features folding into a beautiful smile as Egon sighed deeply. '_Great_.'

"Egon," Kitty asked once more, the tone coming from her voice sounding like a doting mother to a young child. "Why are you cutting a hole in the middle of the street?"

"Kitty, you shouldn't be here." Egon warned, the seriousness rising in his throat as he was on high alert. Kitty's brows creased again as she watched his eyes darting around the scene around them.

Her continued inquiry about why he was drilling was short lived as a blue NYPD cop car pulled up beside of him. Egon looked out of the corner of his eye timidly, silently buying his time as he continued to drill in the middle of the street. The aging cop rolled down the window and barked at Egon "Hey! How ya doing?"  
"Me?" Egon asked, pointing to himself with his thumb.  
"Yeah."  
"Fine, fine! It's cutting now!" Egon shouted as he 'revved' the jackhammer, drilling carelessly to show the machines power.  
"Great. Why are you cutting?"  
"Why am I cutting?" A look of panic flashed on Egon's face.  
"Yeah."

Egon needed a distraction. He could only improve for so long, and with Kitty here wasn't helping at all. He needed help; he didn't know what else to do. Egon shut off the jackhammer and with a wave of his arm he grunted  
"Boss!"

Peter Venkman smirked at his new faux-title, thinking that he might implement that into his normal everyday life. He snapped his head at Egon's distress call, pulling himself with the conversation with Ray over a hot cup of coffee to the frantic scientist calling him over from behind a police car. Peter swore under his breath as he began to jog to Egon's rescue; the jog leaving him slightly winded from the extra weight of the equipment and possibly those pesky five pounds.

Out of the corner of Ray's eye he thought he'd seen something, someone he had known a long time ago. Doing a cartoonish double take, Ray looked back and noticed Kitty standing beside Egon. Her hands behind her back as she scuffed her leather flats on the asphalt, almost hiding behind Egon as the police officer talked with Venkman.

Venkman ran beside the police car, sticking his head in the line of sight between the cop and Egon as he took a sigh of relief.

In possibly the worst Consolidated Edison costume - all Peter's idea - Ray walked up beside Kitty. She smiled, she shared the same beaming, contagious smile with her sister; it must have been genetic. "Kitty? Is that you?" Ray asked, timid as he wasn't sure if he was really seeing the young woman before him. Maybe Egon had hit a gas pipe and was leaking nauseous gases onto the street?

Kitty smiled an even bigger smile, a trait learned from her sister as she replied "It's good to see you, Ray."

"Who told you to stop cutting?" Peter shouted, pointing at Egon in his best Bronx accent, disguising his voice as he spoke to the two cops in the car. "Did you tell him to stop cutting?"  
"Yeah, I told him to stop." The cop explained. "What are you doing?"  
"What does it look like we're doin'?" Peter asked, shouting over the sounds of car horns. "Why don't you let us work? We let you work!"  
"Take it easy. He's been working over time." Ray said, trying his hand at a Bronx accent. "I'll tell you why we're here – we're here because some diaper bag downtown is making us work on a Friday night. Am I right, Peter?"  
"Of course you're right, Raymond. Is he right, Ziggy?" Peter asked, turning to Egon as his eyes widened. With the reaction time of road kill, Egon lifted his fist at shoulder level and uttered with complete uncertainty.  
"Yo."

Kitty hid a smile beneath her hand.

The police man gave up with Peter, running his hands through his thinning hair before raising his hands in defeat. "All right, take it easy, all right?" He said before nodding to his partner, driving off down the street, wondering what the hell had just happened.

With the policemen gone, so went the need for a shtick. Peter and Ray both turned back to normal as they spun on their toes, facing the young woman as she stood in the background. Ray was the first to break character, smiling wide before hopping across the concrete carnage in the street to give Kitty a big hug.

Ray always squeezed a little bit too hard in his hugs, earning a slight yelp from Kitty as she braced herself. Ray loosened his grip, holding the young woman at arm's length as she took a deep, exaggerated breath. "It's good to see you, Kitty." Ray said beside the smile as it turned sour. His face couldn't hide the pain he felt inside. Although it was great to see Kitty, it was also a reminder of her sister. "How is Angie?"

"She's doing well." Kitty lied.

"What, do we not get a hug?" Peter interjected, prying into the conversation as it turned from sincere to awkward. If anyone was good at awkward, it was Peter.

With a grin, Kitty made her way over to the other Ghostbuster, hopping over the blocks of concrete Egon had been busting up all night, wrapping her arms around Peter's shoulders. He had gotten a little wider since five years ago, Kitty thought as Peter snaked his arms around her, squeezing her once before letting go. She pulled away before Peter, as he pointed to Egon lackadaisical. "And you know Egon."

Kitty smiled at Egon before wrapping her arm around his waist, pulling him into a side hug. Egon smiled slightly, trying to hide it from the boys as Ray asked the million dollar question: "What have you been doing?"

Egon's cheery expression dropped as he eyed Ray, his left eye twitching slightly as he exclaimed "What have I been doing? While you've been getting coffee for an hour? I've been digging a hole in the middle of the street!"  
"Wow!" Ray exclaimed, ignoring Egon's frustrations as he peered down the hole that Egon had been working on. "Looks like you've uncovered an old airshaft. It just goes on and on!"

"It's very intense. We should get a deeper reading."  
"Yeah, we gonna need a deeper reading." Ray said, putting his hands on his hips as he parroted Egon.  
"Yeah, someone has to go down there."  
"Yeah, someone's gotta go down there."

To Ray's horror, the three of them all looked to Ray, singling him out this mission into the old airshaft. Even Kitty, who'd he'd at least hope was neutral to all this, looked at him, casting his hat in the ring. He's shoulders dropped as he exhaled, watching their expressions as Peter slapped him on the back, jarring him for a moment "You better get ready." Peter warned a sick grin along his jagged features.

Kitty watched as Ray started to put on a harness, strapping it along his waist and between his legs before being jarred from her own thoughts by Peter's yelling. "Hey you!" Peter shouted, his faux-Bronx accent returning as he pointed at her. "Yeah, you. You wanna help?"

Kitty nodded, hoping that if anything they could get tonight over with before those cop came back, or anyone else questioned what they were going. Peter smirked for a moment before pointing behind Egon. "Good. Get a hardhat, we're gonna help Ray into the airshaft of death." Peter said, earning a look of severe concern from Ray.

* * *

After equipping herself with a yellow hard hat and a bright yellow reflective jacket, Kitty could almost pass as a Con Ed woman. The three of them gathered around the massive hole Egon had created as they lowered Ray into the airshaft. Ray gave a look of fake-confidence as he was slowly lowered into the shaft, before disappearing from view all together, engulfed by the darkness.

The only means of communication was through the radio that both Ray and Peter had on their bodies at all times. The mechanical contraption whizzed loudly as they lowered him down further into the shaft, Egon controlled the mechanism as he slowed the speed of the wire running through the hole.

"You all right?" Peter shouted down the crevasse, his voice echoing off the jagged walls of the shaft. The radio buzzed as Ray came in on the radio.  
_"Yeah, I'm good. Speeds good, boys."_ Ray said, as they lowered him deeper into the old shaft, not sure where it was gonna come out.

Peter and Egon sat on the surface in silence waiting for the next word from Ray. Kitty sat Indian style on the ground as she fumbled with her shoe laces. It was antagonizing, having to wait for Ray to say something on the radio.  
_"Keep it coming."_ Ray buzzed on the radio, earning not even a head nod from the bored trio.

Peter played with his gloves, picking at a loose stitch to keep himself occupied. Egon took to messing with the machine that was lowering Ray into the air shaft, making sure that it kept working correctly. It was the waiting game - waiting for Ray to say something other than synonyms for 'Everything's fine.

"_We're breaking through, I see some light."_ Ray buzzed on the radio. The three of them perked up when they heard this, Peter even stopped playing with the stitch in his glove before it began to unravel. _"I'm in some kind of chamber. There's tile work – SLIME!"_

"What?" Peter shouted down the crevasse.

"_There's a river of slime!"_ Ray buzzed back, the excitement leaking through his voice. _"There's gotta be twenty-five thousand gallons of it! It's flowing through here like a river!" _Egon's eyes widened, his imagination taking hold as there couldn't possibly be that much slime under Manhattan - and in a river? How would they even have a river under the street?

"_Van Horne. Pneumatic transit. I can't believe it – it's the old Pneumatic transit system! It's still here!" _Ray exclaimed, the radio buzzing back with feedback as his words started to get a little muddled.

"_Whoa, whoa! That's good. Hold me up!"_ Ray shouted, causing Egon to spring into action as he slowed the mechanism to a stop. Peter crawled over to the hole, sticking his head between the rig that was currently holding Ray up as he shouted "What do you see?"

In the middle of all this - Ray down in the air shaft, people walking around them like nothing was going on, even the cars blown their horns whenever the hell they felt like it – in the middle of all of this, Kitty spotted out of the corner of her eye the blue monstrosity of a vehicle, the words "New York Police Department" sprawled atop the emblem of the city. Kitty spun around to see another car pull up behind them, this one the same shade of Smurf-vomit blue but instead of having the typical police lights on top, it had one single yellow flasher.

The same police officer that harassed Egon earlier exited the car as he confronted Egon and Peter. "What's going on here?" the presence of the police officer caused everyone to jump to their feet, trying to look as professional as possible while doing something highly illegal. The police officers were joined by another short man, branching a blue "Con Edision" hard hat.

Peter was irate to say the least. "Hey, what, you boneheads are roust me out again? I've got three thousand phones out in Greenwich Village! I got about eight million miles of cable I gotta check – you gonna come and shake my monkey tree again?"

"What are you talking about buddy?" The Con Edison man said, as he spun around, facing the opposite side of the street as he pointed. "The phone lines are over there!"

Peter stood there, paused for a moment as he thought his next plan out carefully. He needed to think quick, he needed a distraction, he needed a guinea pig. His eyes widened with a new train of thought as he turned to Egon, as he stood there, his signature monochromatic look plastered on his face as he became the target of Peter's assault.

"What'd I say to you, huh?!" Peter shouted before hitting Egon's hard hat in frustration. Egon flinched, cowering down as he held on tight to the hard hat, his only shield from Peter. "The phone lines are over there! What'd I say? How many times?!"

The cop raised his gloved hands at the two to them, trying to calm the increasingly frustrated Peter. "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" The Cop shouted as Peter stopped abusing Egon for five seconds, staring intently at the man with the gun. "You're not with Con Ed or the phone company. We checked. So tell me another one." The cop dared him.

Another quick pause and Peter already had it.

"I got a major gas leak here!" Peter shouted, turning towards the exposed air shaft. "Where do you think is coming from? The sky?!" Egon through his hands in the air in defeat, knowing this night wasn't going to end well.

"_Boys? Hey, help!"_ Ray buzzed over the radio, interrupting Peter's new story. The sound of panic apparent as Egon and Kitty ran to the rig. "_Pick me up!"_

"Hey! Start! Start!" Peter commanded, ignoring the cop, the Con Ed man and the shtick he was supposed to keep up.

Through the gaping hole in First Avenue, they could all hear Ray angrily calling out for them. "What's going on up there?" Ray shouted, as the machine whizzed, pulling Ray up as fast as it could. "Get me out of this hole!"

Somehow, through the sound of the city; the whizzing of the rig, and Ray's grunting as he tried frantically to get out of the air shaft, a single sound made the biggest impact. A large boom exited from beneath the street, coming from the airshaft.

Soon after the lights started to go out all over First Avenue, and soon made it to other streets. The cars blared their horns even more now than when the lights were on as they all stayed still. The rude people in the streets started to panic, screaming in the darkness.

Kitty looked around in the darkness, the lights from the cars giving the only light in the city as she watched Egon and Peter's expressions. Peter licked his lips before turning to the police officer and Con Ed man. They both stood over the three of them, arms crossed over their chests as they looked on smirking at them. Peter stood up straight, moving his shoulders back as he addressed the police officer.

"What seems to be the problem officer?"

* * *

Angie snored. She'd always had a cute little snore when she slept, but after the week from hell that she experienced, she had earned a night of loud snoring. Stirring in her sleep, Angie rolled over on her back, intensifying the sound tenfold as it now echoed through the empty apartment. She was off in la-la land somewhere far away, where bills paid themselves, job grew on tress, and people never, ever got sick.

Her peaceful, all be it, noisy sleep was interrupted by a frantic knock on the door, jolting her awake. As always when she slept heavily - her already wild hair stood up on end, looking more like an afro then a perm, a line of drool went down the side of her face as she looked around wide eyed, looking for the blood of whom ever knocked on that goddamn door.

She shuffled out of bed, tripping over different sheets and blankets as she did, and made her way down the hallway. Her warm toes froze against the cold hardwood floor, causing her to step lightly and even aiding her in waking up.

Finally reaching the living room/entry way, she gave a reluctant sigh as she eyed to room. Nothing had changed since this morning. Angie's clothes were still draped over the lazy-boy chair, after asking Kitty's opinion on the different outfits this morning; dishes were still piled up in the sink from the past three days. Even the answering machine hadn't been checked, but for some reason that wasn't working.

Angie stumbled along in the darkness, fumbling with the double dead bolt lock on her door. She gave a deep, gut-busting grunt as she opened the door, immediately blinded by a bright light.

"The fuck?" Angie cursed, moved her arm over her eyes to shield herself from the white light. If this was someone's idea of a prank, it wasn't a very good one. A slight laugh came from the person wielding the flashlight as they apologized.

"Shit. Sorry Ang." The flash light turned off, her eyes immediately jumping back into the darkness. She blinked her eyes rapidly, helping adjust her eyes to the light as her brows furrowed. She recognized that voice. "Winston?"

Winston Zeddemore smiled, though the blinded Angie couldn't see it. After five years she still remembered him, and was even able to recognize him by voice. He shook his head, shaking the nice thought out of his mind as he got back on track.

"Sorry Angie, but you need to get dressed because we've got to go—"  
"Go?" Angie asked, still tired and a bit blinded. "Go where?"  
"The guys are in jail." Winston put blankly. "They got in some trouble and they need us to bail them out."  
Angie's brow creased once more, questioning Winston's claim. "If they're in trouble why do they need me to come?"

Winston mashed his lips together, looking down at his feet as to not make eye contact with Angie. He'd been hanging around Ray for too long. "Winston." Angie started, finally regaining some sight in the darkness. "Why do they need me to come down?"  
"It's Kitty." Winston said, silently kicking himself after Peter and Ray _and Kitty_ told him not to tell Angie until she got down to the courthouse.

As to be expected with big sister, Angie's eyes widened, her mouth cut in a straight line as she turned to the coat rack beside the door, grabbing her coat and throwing it around her shoulders. In a panic, Winston asked "What are you gonna do?"  
"First, I'm gonna get Kitty out of jail." Angie said as she wrapped a plaid scarf around her exposed neck. Leaning down, she pulled on a pair of boots from earlier this morning before finishing her thought.

"Then I'm gonna kill the Ghostbusters."

* * *

Did you miss me?  
I hope you enjoyed it.  
Pure.


	2. Christmas Carols in a Jail Cell

I don't own Ghostbusters; White Christmas by Bing Crosby, Rockin' Around the Christmas tree by Brenda Lee, Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley; or even a bottle of _dom perignon._  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed.

* * *

The police station was busy on this particular Friday night, the outlaws of New York working overtime just to fill the crowded waiting room. Every criminal had shown up, purse snatchers to jewel thieves, con men to pick pocket-ers; even some high-security terrorist decided to join the fun, causing quiet a ruckus with the usually quiet waiting room – they got processed first.

In the middle of all the commotion, the jewelry thieves and the terrorists, Winston and Angie waited in silence for their names to be called. They had linked arms together, for one to protect Angie from the others in the waiting room, her scantily clad pajamas causing quite the stir in the room. The other reason was to stop Angie from lunging at the boys once she saw them, as she promised she would. After the years of knowing Angie, Winston knew that she just might kill the boys like she promised, aiming right for the jugular.

Angie felt self-conscious for the first time in years, subconsciously pulling on her sleepwear to make sure it covered. It didn't cross her mind that she'd be waiting in a room full of complete strangers when she left the house this evening, dressing in only a white tank top and her long pajama bottoms. Luckily she'd brought her jacket, covering up the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra in the 42 degree weather.

She crossed her arms over her body, keeping the coat close by as a new man sat down at the only available chair, right next to her. This would have been fine with her, had the man not been at least a hundred pounds over obese. As he squeezed his way in between the two chairs, his belly spilled out over the armrests, pushing Angie closer to Winston then she wanted to be. The man didn't seem to notice as he flipped through his issue of Highlights magazine.

Finally, Winston thought as the receptionist called his formal name out in the waiting room. With a grunt from Angie, to two of them walked to the receptionist, still arm in arm. As they'd gotten closer to the desk, they could hear a small radio in the corner, set to the only radio station playing Christmas music at this time in the year. However, they only played three songs: _White Christmas_ by Bing Crosby, _Rockin' Around the Christmas tree_ by Brenda Lee and _Blue Christmas_ by Elvis Presley. Right now the melodic howls of Elvis rang out from the radio, bringing the mood in the station all down a peg.

"_You'll be doin' alright, with your Christmas of white.  
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas. "_

The receptionist looked on, unenthused as she rested a blond eyebrow to the pair, popping her bubble gum between her teeth as she did. "Hi. My name is Winston Zeddemore." He introduced himself, only to met with the blank stare of someone who'd been over worked and under paid. "My friend and I are here to bail out a few friends of ours."  
"Names?" She barked, licking the end of her pen before she began to jot down the names as Winston called them out. "Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Raymond Stantz—"  
"Awful lot of 'doctors' in jail, huh?" she remarked as she spelt Ray's last name wrong.  
"Yes, ma'am. And uh Dr. Peter Venkman."  
"And Katherine Reed. No doctor."  
"Yes, and Katherine Reed." Winston repeated after Angie as she interjected with her two cents. She wasn't coming down all this way for her ex boyfriend and his friends. She was going to get Kitty, go home and never see the Ghostbusters again.

"One moment." The receptionist said as she spun in her office chair, taking the yellow stick note with her as she went to find another officer. Now playing on the ancient radio was the musical styling's of Bing Crosby as he sang about the Christmases he used to know, bringing the 'cheerful' demeanor of the waiting room to a screeching halt as everyone 's minds went to where they'd rather be.

It was certain: no one, not even the cops getting paid over time, wanted to be in the police station.

The receptionist returned, the yellow sticky note in hand as she sat back down in the office chair, turning back to the desk and to Angie and Winston. "I'm sorry, but no bail has been set for the Ghostbusters."

Winston's browed creased as he shook his head, doing a bit of a double take. "What?"  
"No bail. Means you can't bail them out. You'll have to wait until the judge sees them."  
"When will that be?" Winston asked causing the young woman behind the desk to sigh heavily. Flipping through her paper's she found the date she was looking for.  
"Tomorrow at nine A.M."  
"That seems kind of quick, doesn't it?" Angie asked, bringing herself into the conversation as the receptionist glared.  
"The judge wants to get this over with before the holidays."

"Can we see them?" Winston asked. He could tell that she was getting tired of people, especially people who kept bugging her about every little question. If anything, this woman just wanted them out of her hair. Sighing deeply she rolled her eyes, "Fine, you can go in and see them." She turned around to the office behind and nodded. The young man in the blue uniform nodded back before opening the door to the holding cells. "Follow Officer Rodriguez. He'll get you to the Ghostbusters."  
"And the girl that they were with?" Angie asked, annoying her once more. With a severe glare the receptionist looked up at her and said, with most certainty: "Ask Rodriguez."

* * *

"Do you think you can have _dom perignon_ for your final meal?" Peter's voice echoed off the barren walls of the jail cell as he looked at the grey concrete ceiling. The others in the jail cell rolled their eyes at Peter as this was the third question he'd asked about a 'last meal'. Lying on a bench, Venkman stared up at the concrete, blinding himself by staring too long at the florescent light hanging from the ceiling, his arms comfortably behind his head as he contemplated the serious questions.

Egon sighed loudly, resting the back of his head on the cold concrete wall as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the pressure of the headache they called Peter. "Peter, we're not going on death row, so we don't' get a final meal."

Peter sat up a little too quickly at the statement, causing him to wobble a little bit before regaining his balance. "What do you mean we don't get a final meal?"

Ray ran his hands through his thick brown hair, sighing deeply. "We're not going to get the death penalty for vandalizing a street. We might get a fine or two, but nothing too severe."  
"What about the restraining order?" Peter reminded them, a sick smile creeping across his face as he remembered something neither of the 'brainiacs' did. "See? Now who's the smart one, huh?"  
"Even with the restraining order, we would only get a couple months." Egon stated, sighing as he tried to remember the exact number of months the judge said they'd get if they were caught with Ghostbusting equipment. "Eighteen at the max."

"So, and follow me on this one." Peter started as he swung his legs over the edge of the bench, resting his work boots on the concrete flooring. "If we got the full eighteen months, it would be 1991 by the time we got out. Think about that." Peter said, his own words blowing his mind as he thought about it. How much different would the world be in one and half years.

His apartment would surely be gone, emptied out and used as a massage parlor or something. The firehouse wouldn't exist anymore, the fact that is still around after five years and hadn't fallen over on its own nothing short of a miracle. Oscar would of course grow, being almost two. He'd be able to walk by then, say a few key words, and maybe be in a preschool at this point. Dana would have moved on, finding Oscar a good role model for a stepdad, barely edging out Peter as she wouldn't return any of his letters he'd send from prison.

'_Oh god, don't make me go.'_

"Ghostbusters!" A young officer walked in, holding the large steel door behind him open, earning the attention of everyone in the cell. Even Kitty perked her ears up, lifting her tired head from her hands as she watched from the opposing cell. Officer Rodriguez held the door open as Winston walked through first, earning the cheers of the guys.

Winston strolled up to the steel bars, wrapping his fingers around the cold metal as the trio ran to up, excited to see their good friend coming to see them. Winston gave a fake smile as he said "Hey guys."  
"Man, are we glad to see you." Ray said, smiling wider than he had all day.  
"Yeah, you're able to get us out right?" Peter asked, slipping his hand through her bars to pat Winston on the shoulder. With a grimace, Winston shrugged his shoulders.

"We can't get you out." Angie said from the doorway, her hands planted firmly on her hips. Kitty ran to the cell door, slipping her hands through the bars. Angie was here to save her, thank god!

"Good to see you, Koala." Peter said, using his lovely nickname for Miss Angie as she smirked at him. "How's the family in _the land down-unda_?" He sang, adding a bit of a badly imitated Australian accent.

"At the moment? Locked up." Angie resorted, moving closer to the cell and to Winston's side. If anyone was going to stop Angie from murdering the Ghostbusters where they stood it was gonna be the big, ex-Air Force Captain.

Egon ignored the banter between the two as her words registered with him. "What do you mean you can't get us out?"  
"You guys violated a federal and judicial restraining order!" Angie scalded, acting more like their mother than their friend. "You guys are lucky you don't get the chair."  
"See, I told you we'd get a last meal." Peter said, elbowing Egon's in the ribs.  
Winston shook his head. "Look, tomorrow you guys have a court appearance. Don't mess it up?" Winston asked, looking mostly at the big mouth in the group. Peter stood there, arms crossed over his chest as he paused, contemplating the proposal. "No promises."

Angie stayed quiet, hiding her head as she stared at the ground. Kitty was angry; she could tell from her lack of speak in all this. Angie had been protecting Kitty since she could walk, taking the fall for something Kitty had done. Even as children, when ever Kitty would get upset, she'd be quiet. It was up to Angie to translate her angry silence, often telling their parents why Kitty was angry. As soon as they would follow Angie's suggestion, Kitty would go back to being a happy, healthy little girl.

But now Angie couldn't help her. She couldn't take the blame anymore, and she sure as hell couldn't cover for her. Kitty had screwed up big time and she'd have to deal with the consequences.

"Okay, times up." Officer Rodriguez shouted, holding the large steel door open. Winston nodded as he sighed loudly, fighting against his better judgment to join his friends, instead opting for the life of freedom out-from-behind bars. Angie looked up at Kitty, meeting her dangerous stare as Kitty stared dangers at her. Kitty wasn't simply upset or angry – she was flat out pissed!

Angie quickly disappeared from view, hiding herself behind the steel door as Winston followed behind as Officer Rodriguez closed the door behind them with a sickening thud.

"Well, that was pleasant!" Peter sarcastically remarked before turning back to his makeshift cot. He laying himself back down on the bench and covered his eyes with his arms, hoping to forget the unpleasant and disturbing news.

Ray ran his hands through his hair. It wasn't only troubling that they wouldn't be seen until tomorrow, but that Angie wouldn't even look at him, opting to stare at the concrete floor below than look him in the eyes. She acted like he wasn't even there, making him feel small and insignificant; like he wasn't worth the effort to look at. He knew it wasn't true, Angie would never hold a grudge like that. But what if she'd been hurt worse than he had? What if the reason she didn't want to see him was because it would kill her to see him?

He'd almost hoped that was the case - otherwise Peter was right in calling her a bitch all those years ago.

* * *

I'd like to tell you guys, a little bit of a warning if you will.  
When November comes around, I will disappear.  
I'm gonna be working exclusively on NaNoWriMo.  
Hopefully I can update a _whole_ bunch before then.

I hope you enjoyed it.  
Pure.


	3. Ghosts in the Courtroom

I don't not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed.

* * *

The news casters had been there for hours, hoping for a slip up from one of the Ghostbusters as they were set for trail. Clambering outside the courthouse, the judge wouldn't let them be inside. He didn't want the law to be turned into a 'three-ring circus'. The Ghostbusters just barely got into the courthouse this morning, trading in their grey jumpsuits for a three-piece suit and tie.

The defense had settled in, sitting along the table Egon, Ray and Kitty sat, more or less with their heads in their hands, giving up on the idea of freedom. They were guilty, plain as that. Peter was the only one giving up a fight, urging the three of them on. They were guilty, but they didn't do anything wrong. Sure, drilling a hole in the middle of the street was a bad thing, but it was for a good cause! The three of them sat silently as all hoped that Peter wouldn't take the stand.

Winston and Angie made sure to be there, staring at the ceiling of their rooms, respectively, waiting for the digital clock to read nine o'clock. They were there today, though worse for wear as they kept yawning from the lack of sleep the night before. Despite Angie's message of peace by showing up today, Kitty wasn't having any of it, ignoring the young woman as soon as she walked through the doors into the courtroom. As Angie made her way around the defenses table, Kitty shot up from her seat to join Peter's side as he razzed on the prosecution, not even acknowledging her presence as she walked right by.

Angie knew this was going to happen, the passive-aggressive tenancies not completely out of character for Kitty when she didn't get what she wanted. She'd cross her arms and pout a little, throwing her version of an adult temper-tantrum. This time she resorted to ignoring Angie for not helping her out of this bind.

Filling the empty chair beside Ray, Angie sat down in haste as the Honorable Judge addressed the patrons of the court.

"Before we begin I want to get one thing very clear." The honorable Judge Stephen Wexler shouted over the court, silencing the light chatter from the room. "The law doesn't recognize the existence of ghosts. I don't believe in them either. Don't wanna hear a lot of malarkey about goblins and spooks and demons. We're gonna stick to the facts and leave the ghost stories to the kiddies, understood?"

"Wow. Sounds like a pretty open minded guy." Winston said, resting his hands on the defenses table. Egon leaned in close, whispering as he did "Yeah, they call him The Hammer."  
"What can we do?" Ray asked, shrugging his shoulders. "It's all in the hands of our lawyer now."

As if on cue, Louis strolled into the picture, slamming a large pile of books on the table as he admitted "I think you guys are making a big mistake." Angie silently agreed as he continued. "I mostly do tax laws and probate stuff occasionally. I got my law degree at night school!"

Ray strained as he smiled weakly. "Well, that's okay, Louis. We got arrested at night." With a thud his head met the table as the sound echoed of the chamber walls.

Angie bit her lip watching Ray in turmoil, killing her slowly. Without realizing what she was doing, she placed her hand on his back, rubbing up and down his spine, lightly dragging her nails across the fabric of his suit.

Confused, Ray lifted his head and peaked over his shoulder at her as she smiled a bright smile. She hadn't said two words to him in two days and she's being comforting? And to add insult to injury, she smiled one of her bright smiles that made his heart melt. His heart ached a little while as he recalled the last time he'd seen that smile.

"Alright!" The judge shouted over the mundane sound of chattering back and forth. "Let's get on with it."

* * *

Louis Tully addressed the court first. His hands fidgeting inside his pocket, he began sweating profusely from his brow; causing his glasses to have little sweat drops on them. Louis walked across the well of the courtroom to address the judge and jury.

"Your honor, ladies and gentleman of the—Of the audience. I don't think it's fair to call my clients frauds! Okay, so the blackout was a big problem for everybody, okay? I was stuck in an elevator for two hours and had to make the whole time. But I don't blame them! Because one time I turned into a dog and they help me. Thank you."

Louis finished his opening statement quickly, returning back to the defenses table. The Judge sat with his mouth agape, staring at the worst opening statement for a defense he'd ever seen in his twenty something years on the bench. Sitting down, Egon leaned over to Louis and said "Very good, Louis. Short but pointless."

The four of them, five including Louis, sat in their chairs as they cringed. This day wasn't going to go as well as they'd hoped.

As the trail went on, the prosecution did well, bringing up the Con Edison supervisor to the witness stand. The prosecutor slithered up to the witness stand, her frizzy hair only matched by her oversized glasses, three sizes too big for her face as it gave her a bug-eyes effect. She slithered up, her long legs working their way across the well as she address the aging supervisor.

"Mr. Fianella, please look at exhibits A through F on the table over here." The snake of a woman said as she pointed to a fold-up table they'd set up on the other side of the room. The table itself littered with proton pack and traps, as well as a small tub with a pink substance filled half way to the top. The con Edison man looked over at the equipment before nodding his head.  
"Yeah. That's the stuff the cops took from their truck."  
"Do you know what this equipment is used for?"  
"I don't know… Catching ghosts, maybe?" The Con Edison man said, shrugging his shoulders at the prosecutor. With a smirk, the prosecutor turned on her spiked heel and faced the defense.  
"May I remind the court that the defendants are under a judicial restraining order that strictly forbids them from performing services as paranormal investigators or eliminators?"

The young woman walked across the well to the prosecutions table and pulled a blue file from the many folders she had spread out across the table. Her heels clicked as she walked up to the bench, meeting Louis as he stumbled to the bench. She handed the judge the file, the judge pulled out a condensed amount of papers being held together by a paper clip and handed it to Louis; it was like clockwork! The courtroom was like a well choreographed ballet, if only the end result wasn't jail time. The Judge nodded from behind the bench. "So done.

Her heels clicked on the flooring as she approached the table of evidence against the Ghostbusters, picking up the tub of pink ooze as it sloshed in its container. "Now, Mr. Fianella." The Prosecutor said, placing the tub on the edge of the witness stand. "Can you identify the substance in this jar marked Exhibit F?"  
He eyed the substance in the jar as he nodded once in agreement. "Yeah, that's the stuff alright. Your Honor, I've worked under ground with Con Ed for twenty-seven years. I never saw anything like this in my life. Whatever's down there, they must have put it there!"  
"No we didn't!" Ray shouted, standing up from his seating position.  
"Shut up!" The Judge shouted, he had just about enough of the Ghostbusters as he banged his gavel on the bench, the sound echoing off the chamber walls. Ray could handle being in court for something they had done, but to say they'd planted evidence of the paranormal was a slap to the face; a complete disregard for everything they had done in the past five years.

The slime bubbled.

With Ray's outburst, the prosecutor knew she was getting to them. With a smirk, she dismissed the supervisor and handed the reins to Louis, who was frazzled to say the least. When he rose from the chair, he knocked over all the books he'd sat down earlier, spilling them across the well of the chamber as the crowd of spectators laughed at his misfortune. The snake-like, cocky grin appeared on her face as she let Louis bury himself and his defense as he let Peter to the witness stand.

With a groan from the others, Peter walked up to the witness stand and sat down, almost kicking his legs up and reclining if he could. His rebellious attitude not quite as humorous as he'd once hoped before watching Louis walk to the side of the stand.

"… So you were just—"  
"Trying to help a friend" Peter mumbled against his lips.  
"—Trying to help a friend!"  
"Who was scared of what was happening"  
"—Who was scared of what was happening to her, when you're scared—what?"  
"There was no evil intent."  
"-There was no evil intent, no malice. Because you live here and when you live in a place you love it and you love it like you do you don't want nothing bad to happen.-"  
"Because it'll never happen again."  
"—Because it'll never happen again! It's an isolated incident, it's a one shot deal."

"Objection, Your Honor." The prosecutor shouted from her desk. Louis pulled away from Peter as the witness stand to walk half way across the well of the courtroom. "What?" Louis groaned, getting tired of Miss Perfect's interruptions.  
"He's leading the witness." She exclaimed, earning a stiff scoff from Angie as she tried to sit quietly behind the defense. Not sure if he was leading the defense or if the defense was leading him!  
Louis went for broke. "Give me a break, we're both lawyers."  
"Mr. Tully!" The judge shouted, earning Louis full attention as he addressed the bench. "Do you have any questions that might have some bearing on this case?"  
Louis looked to Peter. "Do I?"  
"No, I think we've helped them out enough already."  
"No Your Honor." Louis addressed to the Judge as he spun on his heel. As he crossed the well he turned to the prosecutor as she sat with a smug, diabolical look on her face. More begrudging then he meant, Louis turned to her as growled "Your witness."

The young woman snaked her way in front of her table, leaning against the corner as she eyed Venkman. The leader of Ghostbusters, huh? He didn't seem so tough. Besides parlor tricks, and manipulating his lawyer, there was nothing to him. He was just a man.

"Dr. Venkman," She called out from the other side of the well, her tongue burning with the use of his formal name. _Doctor. _"Would you please tell the court why is it you and your co-defendants took it upon yourselves to dig a very big hole in the middle of First Avenue?"

Peter racked his brain, searching for the right words. "Well, there are so many holes in First Avenue; we didn't think anyone would notice." Perfect!  
"Keep that up mister and I'll find you in contempt."

The slime bubbled again.

"I'm truly sorry, Your Honor."  
"I'll ask you again, Dr. Venkman." The Prosecutor repeated herself, getting angry with Venkman as he made a mockery of what she'd spent seven years at University for. "Why were you digging the hole? And please remember you are under oath."  
"There are some things that go way beyond human understanding. Things that can't be explained. Things some don't even want to know about! That's where we come in." Peter explained in a relatively normal fashion – a straight answer. Ray beamed, turning to Egon as he nodded, proud in what they do for a living.  
"So what you're saying is that the world of the paranormal is your exclusive providence?"

"Kitten," Peter called the prosecutor as he went to hold her hand. She pulled back, repulsed by the thought as he continued. "I think what I'm saying is that: sometimes, shit happens, someone has to deal with it and who yah gonna call?"

The courtroom exploded in cheers from both sides of the courtroom. Ray, Egon and Kitty turned around in their seats to see the people of New York behind them, cheering for them as they had once before. Even Angie stood up, cheering as she had only five years earlier as when they went to face Gozer, the memory fresh in her mind.

The judge banged on the gavel hard on the bench, the deafening sound somehow ringing over the cheers of the crowd as the Judge shouted "shut up!"

* * *

After "long" and "hard" deliberation, the Judge had made his mind up. He placed his glasses on the edge of his nose before summoning the Ghostbusters. "Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler, Katherine Reed stand up!" He growled at them.

Reluctantly, the four of them stood up from their chairs. Kitty gave a silent prayer to whoever was listening that she wouldn't have a similar sentence. Jail time just wasn't going to work with her current schedule. "You too, Mr. Tully." He barked at Louis, causing the already high-strung lawyer to jump at his name being called.

"I find you guilty on all charges!" He barked. Kitty's heart dropped. In a single sentence her freedom was gone. She got the same amount of punishment that they had, and she didn't drill a damn thing! Kitty never had a poker face, so her emotions were clear on her face. The boys, however, didn't seem to react, knowing deep down the sentence before they even entered the courtroom this morning. "I order you to pay fines in the amount of $25,000 each!"

The Slime bubbled once more, finally earning the attention of an increasingly curious scientist. Ray did a double take, not sure he'd actually just seen what he had. The Slime bubbled! It reacted with something, but what? "I sentence you to eighteen months in the city correctional facility at Rikers Island!"  
"Iggy!" Ray said, hitting his friend in the arm. "She's twitching!"

"I'm not finished!" The Judge barked again, his booming voice towering over the courtroom as he continued on his rampage. "On a more personal note, let me just go on record as saying there is no place for fake, charlatans—"  
"Uh, Your Honor?" Egon interrupted, pointing to the gurgling slime  
"Shut up!- and tricksters like you in decent society."  
"Your Honor this is important!"  
It continued to bubble, the bubbles growing in size.  
"You prey upon the gullibility of innocent people!"  
"Yes, sir—"  
"Be quiet!"  
"But—"  
"And believe me, if my hands were not tied by the unalterable fetters of the law! And I would indulge in the tradition of our illustrious forbears…" He continued, as he began foaming at the mouth.

The slime bubbled uncontrollably, shaking it's container at it danced on the table in front of them. The three Ghostbusters shared a look, all seemingly reading the other ones thought process as they began to crouch under the table. Slowly they lowered themselves, as to not cause too much a scene during the Judge's angry rant on them. Peter grabbed the arm of Kitty's sweater and began pulling her under the table. She didn't resist, currently in a state of shock still from the sentencing.

Angie watched from the back as the defense started to crouch under the table. Her brows furrowed as she watched them hide under the table; surely the rant wasn't that bad.

"… Reach back to a purer, sterner justice, and have you **burned at the stake**!"

The slime burst out of it container, no longer able to contain itself in the small confinements of the Tupperware. With a boom, the slime erupted; from the eruption two Class IV specters appeared, cackling in the center of the courtroom.  
"Wow!" Ray exclaimed, taking in the show before him.

The crowd looked on in horror, many taking the wisest move and leaving post-hast, trampling several other witnesses in the process. Most of them ran for the hills, while the rest were dragged there. The color from the Judges face drained, looking white as a ghost (No pun intended) as he said with a sober voice. "Oh my God, it's the Scoleri brothers!"

The two entities roamed the center of the courtroom, cackling over the sound of their electric chairs cracking, the last sound that they heard while they lived. With the supernatural force they didn't have while they lived, they broke from the containment of the electric chairs and went after the Honorable Judge Steven Wexler.

He jumped from the bench, hitting the ground hard before the Scoleri brothers attacked his desk, a massive explosion emanating from the result as the Judge crawled over to the under the defenses table.

"The Scoleri brothers!" The Judge exclaimed once again.  
"Friends of yours?"  
"I tried them for murder! Gave them the chair!" He explained, shouting over the gusts of wind in the seemingly windless courtroom. The two ghosts roamed around, destroying the courtroom in search of the Honorable Judge.  
" You have to do something!"  
"Why don't you just tell them you don't believe in ghosts?" Egon suggested, only about half kidding. Suddenly, the defense's table lifted from the ground; the pair of specters peeking under the table as the six of them ran for the back, the Judge leading the way as the Scoleri brothers threw the table across the room.

The Judge ran straight for the back, banging on the door with his full fist as he cursed the people inside for not letting him in. With a flash of blue electricity and a high-pitched cackle from the courtroom, the Judge turned white. He'd have to ask for help from the people he'd just put away, sentenced to prison and fined to the farthest extent of the law. He'd told them he wanted to burn them at the stake, only now to be begging for they help. The Judge turned to Ray, grabbing him by the collar of his suit before shaking him back and forth.

"You gotta do something! Help me!"  
Ray had a smirk on his face, as he looked at the Judge down the bridge of his nose. "Don't talk to me, talk to my attorney."  
"And that's me!" Louis exclaimed. "My guys are still under a judicial mistrangement order! That blue thing I got from her! They could be exposing themselves!"  
"And you don't want us exposing ourselves!" Peter added, pointing a finger in the Judge's face. Kitty nodded furiously; the last thing they needed, on top of the ghost problem in the courtroom, was for the Ghostbusters busting in the buff.

A screech emitted from the courtroom, shaking everyone's train of thought as they ran around the iced glass partition. Peeking around the corner, they all watched as the prosecutor, the young woman with snake like charm, now was being lifted out of the courtroom by her dainty foot.  
Gravity doing its part in the fight, lifted her skirt to around her waist as she was dragged inside the courtroom by one of the Scoleri Brothers, screaming the whole while through.

The Judges eyes widened as he walked back to the doorway, his head in his hands as he realized the severity of the situation. Venkman's comment only helped drive home the point: "You're next bubbles."

With a regretful growl, the Judge shook with anger as he exclaimed "Alright! Alright! I rescind the order! Case dismissed!"  
"Hooray! We won the case-!" Louis cried, a flash of excitement on their faces before the Judge shouted at them.  
"Now do something!"

* * *

The Ghostbusters walked out from the behind the iced glass partition, a certain bounce in their step as they walked to the 'evidence' table covered in their ghost busting gear. They all made their way to the table, grabbing their individual proton pack. Ray helped Egon with his pack, holding the 35 pound nuclear accelerator as Egon strapped himself to the pack, the straps a little tighter around his mid section than he remembered. With a deep groan, Peter grunted as he slung the pack around his back, grabbing the over strap and latching it to the other side.

"Oh! I always hated this part of the job." Peter complained as he clicked the latches together around his waist. Stumbling over the added weight on his back, Peter hopped along to the middle of the well before straightening up. Egon helped Ray into his own pack before joining Peter in the center of the courtroom.

Kitty stayed back behind the glass partition, using Louis as a human shield as she shouted from the corner. "I'm gonna stay back here, if you need me."  
Egon nodded. "I think that would be best."

Peter grabbed for the neutrona wand from the back, whipping in over his shoulder as an evil little thought popped into his head. "You know, it's been a couple years since we've used this stuff. I hope it still works."  
"It should," Egon explained. "The power cells have a half-life of five thousand years."  
"Well there's no time for a bench test. Heat 'em up!"

With a flick of the switch on the wand, the proton pack buzzed, purring as it did five years ago. No hiccups, no stutters; just a pure hum from its base. Peter smirked as he sang a single note. "Do…"  
Ray smiled as he flipped the switch on his pack. "Ray…"  
Egon followed suit, his pack humming along with the others as he exclaimed "Egon!"

Peter looked over to the scientist with a look of concern for his mental health, only to be reaffirmed by Egon's perverted smile. Only Egon could take something as sweet and innocent as a smile and turn into something more brazen. It seems he needed to stop hanging around Venkman.

Over the sweet hum of the proton packs, the courtroom was silent. From being physically active not two minutes earlier, to being still and calm was unnerving. The three of them watched in anticipation for something, anything to move in the tranquil air. Ray's brows creased as he's eyes jumped all over the room, turning this capture into more of an I-Spy game than a serious job.

Peter was on edge, keeping his eyes open as he was sure the rest of the guys were too. Not a single sound was made, even the bustling city outside seemed quiet as they listened for any noise. Kitty and Louis stayed back with the Judge, holding their hands over their mouths, respectively, to stop them from making any noise themselves. Last thing they needed was for someone to sneeze and be blown away by a proton pack. Last time Kitty was met a pack it didn't end too well. Though, she had to admit, the scars from did look cool.

Suddenly, chairs from the spectator box began bouncing from where they stood, popping up from their place of rest as they got closer and closer to the Ghostbusters. Starting from the back, the chairs popped out of the way of an invisible entity, or at least that's how it seemed from Kitty's point of view as she watched behind the human shield of Louis.

As it got closer, the chairs closest to them popped before finally revealing the Scoleri Brothers in their mangled apparition. Their smiles stretched to the farthest part of their faces as their eyes glowed a bright, electric yellow, piercing with revenge as they sot-out the Judge.

The boys pulled the triggers on the proton packs, the concentrated protonus streams leaving the wand in a spectacular orange light show. The Scoleri brothers grinned to each other as they flew up and other the Ghostbusters, hiding in and behind the Judges bench as the orange beams of the packs followed behind, scorching the roof of the courthouse.

The Scoleri brothers were out of sight. The jolt of excitement, of adrenalin was too much all at once as Peter began screaming an earthy battle cry into the silence of the courtroom. The release of excitement echoed off the scorched walls as Peter paused, silently asking himself what the hell he was doing. He looked to Ray and Egon for help, finding none in there confused faces.

After a moment of confusion, mostly on his part, Peter couldn't help but start laughing; this new release of energy more accepted than the weak battle cry. He cackled, bouncing around on the balls of his feet in a nervous manner as he drained some of his adrenalin.

Ray joined in, missing the intense sensation of using the proton packs, the smell of burnt hair that seemed to emanate from the pack whenever it was used, and the feeling of scorching a building without seeing too many repercussions from it.

Egon chuckled, his robotic laugh left much to be desired as he too released pent up energy that was ready to burst, but in small, controlled patches.

Peter cackled once more, earning the attention of one big-baddy they'd been waiting on.

The Scoleri brother peeked his pale blue head through the wall, groaning as he did before being met with three streams on concentrated protonic energy. He wailed in pain as he tried to escape the range of the packs, but the boys weren't having any of it. Peter especially wasn't having this Mother get away. He followed the spirit through the courtrooms partition, walking through the spectator's box as he wrangled the fat boy.

"Come on, big boy! Let's go!" Peter taunted as he whooped and hollered at the ghost. "I'm gonna take you home to my private zoo." After he had weakened the specter, he released a capture stream around the single Scoleri brother. The orange stream instead now wrapping around the negative energy instead of attacking it as Peter brought it back towards the well.  
"You got him! You got him!" Ray exclaimed in glee as at least half of the ghosts could be accounted for. He nodded over to Spengler, nodding as his did. "Spengie, bring out the trap!"

"Okay, okay!" Egon shouted over the immense gusts of wind as he grabbed a vacant ghost trap from the evidence table. From behind him, he heard a high pitched cackling. Egon turned around quickly, shouting "Ray, behind you!"

Ray blasted the ghost with the proton pack, following it as it flew over Egon's head. Egon instinctively crouched down, ducking from the nuclear powered light show as he busted a pane of glass, the small glass fragments shattering around the poor Judge Wexler.

Peter and Ray both had each other Scoleri brothers in there containment streams, slowly pulling back towards Egon as he got the trap ready for it final step in this fight. Peter pulled on the neutrona wand, yanking as he pulled the stubborn ghost back over the partition.

"Okay trap's going in!" Egon shouted over the wind in the courtroom as he pushed the small device in the middle of the room. The small shoebox like device wheeled its way to the middle of the well, the metallic box having been upgraded during Egon's 'down time'.

"Hit it!" Ray shouted as Egon stomped on the pedal, opening the trap. In a spectacular light show, the trap opened up, releasing a white light in the middle of the well, drawing in the ghostly brothers. The box whined loudly as it began to suck in the two Scorleri brothers, they're high-pitched scream almost censored by the metallic buzzing of the trap.

Another stomp from Egon and the trap closed, the light and the whizzing noise disappeared, as did the two Class IV's that had run amuck in the courtroom.

The traps door closed rather modestly, the only climactic part of the capture was the update beep that Egon had installed to the hardware. The air was still once more as the three of them paused, waiting for something, anything, else to happen. It was almost too easy.

The courtroom was worse for wear. The wood finish on the once regal looking courthouse started to burn, almost extinguishing itself as it ran of room to burn. The tan walls of the courtroom, now lined with the black charcoal lines of the proton pack crumbled a bit, needing a bit more than Tender, Love and Care.

The three of them walked up to the trap and grinned, enjoying the sensation of a good day's work, despite the damage done to a federal building. Ray cackled first, ecstatic at the feeling to wield a proton pack again.

"Two in the box!"  
"Ready to go!"  
"We be fast!"  
"And they be slow!" They all said at the same time, pointing down at the proton pack and the little Class IV's within its confines.

Kitty and Louis emerged from the back, cautiously tip-toeing their way to the middle of the well to join the boys in their celebration Louis was more than thrilled as he leaned down near the smoking pack, his eyes bugging out of his head as he exclaimed breathlessly. "Wow."

Kitty could barely believe it. She'd never seen an actual capture before. Sure, she'd been the object of a possession, having to have the ghost inside exorcised; but she hadn't witnessed that. And Stay-Puft… that was something all on its own.

She looked at the boys with wonderment. These guys do this stuff for a living! How amazing it must be to be able to do this for a living, now with no restraints.

* * *

The double doors swung open, causing the newscasters to jump and run to the opening with microphones in their hands. The crowd was massive, but that was to be expected after the loud cracks and booms coming from the courtroom, not to mention all of the yelling and screaming that went on. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. Had the Ghostbusters won? Had the ghosts themselves eaten the Ghostbusters? And what about the Judge and his ruling?

Peter strutted out of the building, puffing up his chest as he stood up straight. All three of them seemed to have a smirk on their face as they walked out of the courtroom with their heads held high. They'd won, no doubt in Angie's mind now.

The news organizations all jumped at the glimpse of the Ghostbusters, asking about five thousand questions each before Peter raised his hands, shushing the tireless crowd as he shouted.

"We're the best, we're the beautiful, we're the only – Ghostbusters!"  
"And we're back!"

* * *

_We're back!  
_  
This was one of those scenes I had to watch a billion times to get right.  
Not that I'm complaining.  
I think I'm gonna play out the next montage a little bit.

Pure.


	4. Homecoming

I don't own Ghostbusters.  
I own Angie and Kitty Reed.

* * *

The day turned to night, the excitement of the day finally setting in on their features: they were, in fact back. The old neighborhood was just as they had left it, still deemed a demilitarized zone by Egon, but this time he stated it with a bit of a grin as they returned back to the firehouse.

The years hadn't been kind to Hook and Ladder #8, the Ghostbusters headquarters and home for the previous years. After the city had shut them down, they had been forced to resign all property of the Ghostbusters; proton packs, traps, experimental equipment and even the firehouse, leaving the boys homeless for the time being.

Thick cobwebs collected in the corners of the painted white cinder blocks, several windows busted out from teenage kids, unappreciative of what the Ghostbusters had done for the city. About an inch and half of dust covered everything in the seemingly vacant firehouse. The Ghostbusters wondered around in what was once their home, now vacant, empty and cold as if they had never been there at all.

That was gonna change.

As always, Ray only saw what they could do now that they were back; the possibilities were endless as began spouting off ideas off the top of his head. Egon disappeared, searching in his lab for any of his experiments to find none. City Hall issued a note telling them about what had happened to their belongings earlier this morning, shortly after the Scoleri Brothers.

The note read that all of the missing items from the firehouse were temporarily stored off site, hiding somewhere in a bunker upstate. The note also mentioned that they would get back those items in the next three-to-five business days. Egon was optimistic, hoping that they might have forgotten something only to be disappointed when nothing was found but more dust.

Winston and Kitty walked through the large doors, arms linked together as they filled each other in on their lives since the separation and more importantly, the Gozer incident. No ghosties so far, Kitty told him, "No spooky noises, and no things moving. It's like I'm normal again."  
"Despite that whole being possessed thing, right?"  
"Yes, despite of that – I'm normal!"

Angie and Peter held up the back, fighting as they did so well as they walked through the door way. They had actually forgotten why they were fighting, both now just spouting off words to hurt the other ones grand ole ego, and failing miserably.

After putting a halt to the fighting, and Ray stopped coming up with idea's to make the headquarters bigger and better, and even after Egon gave up the search for the experimental equipment, they had all resided upstairs, surrounding the dining table, one of the few pieces of furniture the movers didn't get.

Cutting through the mediocre chatter, Peter whistled loudly, drawing all the attention to himself. The chatter stopped as the five of them looked around to Peter as he smirked widely. "I'd just like to say, that we did an excellent job of torching the courthouse today." Peter started, earning a round of cheers from the table for the collective carnage they had achieved today. "May this be the olive branch that we need to our elected officials, in high hopes for us to burn down even more federal buildings."  
"A little louder, Pete, I don't think big brother heard you." Angie laughed, before taking a swing out of an amber-colored glassed bottle. Peter winked at her before lifting his own beer bottle to the light fixture, promptly in everyone's way.  
"To another five years of destruction!"

"Here here!"  
"_Salute_!"  
"Bottoms up!"

They all echoed out after the other, lifting the green and brown glass, respectively, to the ceiling. With a satisfying groan, Ray's lips left the bottle as he sat the glass back on the poorly constructed table. He smiled as he looked around at the people around him talking, chatting, and laughing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Angie, standing beside the table as she talked with Winston, Winston telling a story to her from when he was in the Air Force. Her eyes lit up as he told the story of his struggle while a police captain at Reese Air Force Base in Texas. Her lips curled into a grin as Winston repeated a joke he had heard from a fellow officer during his time.

He bit his bottom lip as he looked over to Venkman as he decided to fill Kitty in on what was going on with Dana Barrett and her young son. Kitty rested her chin on her hand as she listened intently to Peter. "… so then we drill down into the street and get Ray to go into the air shaft—"  
"I was there for that."  
"—Right! And so when he gets down there, there was a bunch of slime." Peter explained, underestimating it by a bit. Ray scoffed, choking slightly on his beer as he interrupted Peter's story time. "More than a bunch. There had to be thousands of gallons running through it like a river!"  
"Under New York?" Kitty asked, drawing everyone's attention to the slightly serious question as it hovered in the room.  
"At least under First Avenue. It seemed to be running along the old Pnuematic Transit system, but why?"  
"And where did it come from?" Angie asked, sticking her nose into the conversation.

There it was! The spark, the glow in her eyes whenever they talked about the paranormal. That glimmer in her eyes showed well through to Ray, he silently wondered if anyone else could see it. She always seemed to have a certain glow in her eyes when talking about the paranormal, even back before they had been going out. He could still remember staying up late some nights, talking about different theories on the paranormal; she would just sit there, lapping it up, her eyes still a glow. He'd forgotten how much he had missed that glow in her eyes.

The table grew silent, the questions of the night still hovering in the thick, musky air. Most of them stared at the glass in their hands; others looked down at the ground deep with thought on the matter. Peter, always one to ruin a perfectly good awkward silence coughed loudly as he looked to the analog clock in the corner. Passed the spider-webs and layer of dust, he could read "11:39 PM."

"Well, looks like it's time to go now." He said, faking a yawn as he lifted his arms in a dramatic motion. "We've gotta get some sleep before tomorrow – that's when all the calls are gonna come in."  
"That reminds me, we might want to get Janine back. I'm sure she'd want her job back." Ray suggested as he sipped his microbrew. Peter's face scrunched up, turning his nose up at the idea, but going along with it as no one else would want the stinking job. Lord knows he wouldn't. "I'll call her tomorrow, it's too late tonight." He lied as he made his way down the stairs.

"Goodnight guys! Good to see you again Kitty. Say bye to the Koala for me!" He shouted up the staircase as he disappeared from view.  
"Okay, _someone_ has to explain that nickname to me." Angie said, lifting the beer bottle to her lips.

* * *

After Peter had left, the rest didn't take long to follow, soon getting too late for even Egon as he came up with a rightly excuse to leave Angie and Ray alone. Soon after piling in, drinking all the beer that Angie had bought it was just the two of them for the first time since their break up.

Empty beer bottles littered the kitchen of the once infamous Ghostbusters, lining the rim of the sink and even the corner, but none actually making it in the trash can, which was literally two feet away. Angie groaned, rubbing the back of her head at the mess before she began picking up stray bottles by the necks and tossing them in the trash with a fantastic crash. Ray smiled before helping her along with the clean-up, feeling somewhat responsible, and guilty for leaving such a mess.

Angie faked a smiled at him as they worked in silence, the only noise coming from the clattering noise of the glass on glass shattering. In a last ditch event to impress his ex, Ray picked up a bottle and tried to throw it in the trash, jumping up and tossing it like a basketball into a 'hoop'. Angie saw him aim for the 'hoop' as he made it into the trash bin, the glass bottle shattering alongside its brothers. Angie cheered loudly, throwing her hands in the air ecstatically. "It's in! And the _New York Knicks_ still lose!" She cheered, causing Ray to laugh at her silly joke.  
"Hey, you leave the Knicks alone."  
"I'll leave them alone when they can hit something from the three-point line." Angie said, pushing another random group of bottles in the trash bin.

He sighed, leaning against the aging counter top as Angie worked around him, grabbing bottles they had left, all while not looking at Ray's face as she worked. Gazing up at the scenery, Ray smiled brightly, a rush of different memories flooding his subconscious. He remembered the talks, the laughs, the arguments, the fights, the make-ups and the breakup; the memory of Angie's angry, tear-ridden face fresh in his mind. He shook his head, trying to clear the unpleasant thought from his mind.

Angie's brows furrowed as she watched his expression change from delight to one of pain, switching like a light switch. "Hey." Angie said, her hand grazing over his shoulder as he jumped, shaking himself from his deep thought. "Are you okay? You don't look too good?"  
"I don't?"  
"No, you don't. Are you okay?" Angie asked again, the sound of worry perfected over the years as Ray smiled, shaking his head at her concern. "I'm fine, Ang. Thanks." He smiled his best goofy, endearing, loving smile, causing Angie's heart to melt just a little bit from the cold frigidness she promised herself she'd maintain.

She forgot her promise to herself, getting wrapped up in the moment as she smiled back at him. "Good," She said, as she wrapped her long fingers around the neck of the glass bottle. "I'm glad to hear it."

She spun around on the ball of her foot, tossing the bottles in the trash as Ray smiled at her. From the cold shoulder he'd gotten from her yesterday and today, to the warmth he'd grown to know from her; Angie's smiles made him happy, almost ecstatic to see her so happy. If only she was happy with him.

She turned back around to face him, meeting his contagious smile across his lips as he looked down at her from his extra four inch height difference. Her brows creased, gazing up at him with curiosity as she finally mustered the courage. "What?"  
"Nothing!" He lied, pausing as he searched for the right words. "It's just… Good to see you, Angie."  
She smiled again, matching his endearing smile. "It's good to see you too, Ray." With an air of hesitance, she looked to the floor as she scuffed her shoes on the vinyl floor before admitting her worst fear. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Ang." Ray confessed, looking down at his shoes as he did. Angie's smile grew three sizes as he continued. "It would be a lie to say I didn't think about you, after we had broken up."

She nodded, knowing the intense feeling all too well. He looked up from the ground, staring deeply in her dark brown eyes, a puzzling look on his soft features. He slid his bottom lip between his teeth, biting softly on the rosy flesh as he considered his next words carefully as to not open any old wounds.

"This has been bugging me for a while." He confessed, searching in her eyes for something he wasn't quite sure of. "Why did we break up?"

Angie smiled but only just, hiding her sadness behind a fake mask of happiness as she looked away, pulling him from his longing gaze. She bit the inside of her cheek as she searched for the right words. The fights, the arguments, she knew all too well, often spending her late nights replaying every fight in her head, word-for-word, asking herself if she'd said the right thing, if she was too harsh or if he'd really meant any of that stuff.

The fights were etched into her mind, but the causes of them were sketchy. At first it was something stupid, like doing the dishes, or something; then it evolved, taking on a life of its own. But it couldn't have been the dishes, fighting over something like that would have been juvenile, childish.

It hit her, the flood of emotion rushing back to her as the blood left her face, leaving her as pale as a ghost. She remembered why they had fought the whole time, why they'd pick a fight over anything just to have a fight.

"You knew I wanted kids."

Ray closed his eyes slowly as he nodded, the memories coming in clear to him now. The beginning of every fight, every argument, every name-calling drag out they'd had was over kids. Ray ran his hand through his dark hair as he sighed, flashes of the fights clear in his head as he saw in his minds-eye the epic fights and the weary relationship that was hanging on by a thread. One day, after hours of fighting over everything, Angie had finally sat down, her head in her hands as she confessed she couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't keep fighting over the same thing every day. She wanted out, and Ray saw that, so he gave her what she wanted. He set her free.

"I told you why I didn't want kids." Ray tried to defend himself, trying to keep calm in hopes of avoiding another argument. "It wasn't the right time. At the time, you have to remember, that's when we were being sued by the city. We had a lot to deal with and adding a kid to mix wouldn't have helped us."

"Ray, it was never the right time." Angie confessed, saying the words she'd rehearsed in her mind over and over again. "It was the city suing you guys, and then it was trying to find a job and then it was trying to find a place to live—"  
"Seems like good reasons to me."  
"Ray, those reasons are always going to be there. You're not guaranteed tomorrow, or the next day. Every day you could get fired, or sued, or kicked out of your apartment, or be homeless – but that doesn't stop you from living, does it?" Angie held back tears and she sniffed loudly. She searched in his eyes for comfort, some sort of sign that he wasn't a hollow shell like she'd thought all these years, but finding no such sign.

Ray scratched the back of his neck, thinking about everything and nothing all at the same time. It wasn't the best time; it was never the best time for him. One of these days, he'd hoped that he might settle down and raise a family. Silently he wondered as he rubbed his hand through his dark hair when would 'one of these days' actually show up.

Angie looked down at her feet, holding back the tears before the fell. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry, having had that opportunity years ago.

Ray looked up, looking at the young woman before him, waiting for her to say something. She didn't, waiting out the heat of the fight as she stayed silent. Ray bit his lips once more, a small bruise forming beneath the skin.

"I'm sorry." He started, pulling the young woman's attention to him, her eyes red and swollen from failing to hold back tears. "I don't want to fight anymore."

She smiled, a heartwarming smile on her face as she nodded her head up and down, bouncing like a child. "I don't want to fight either." She confessed, slowly moving her way over to Ray as her arms moved of their own accord, wrapping them around his chest. He followed, not having control of his body either as he hugged back, sighing contently.

Angie's eyes widened, suddenly realizing what she was doing. Hugging Ray might give him the wrong idea that she was ready to pick things up where they'd left off. She pushed herself away from Ray, as always missing his warmth as she left. "R-Ray." She stuttered, pushing him away to arms length. "I don't want to get back together."  
"Oh."  
"I just think we should start off slow." Angie said, trying to sell Ray on the idea. "Maybe we could be friends and see where it goes?"

Ray mashed his lips together, swallowing hard as he tried to control himself. It had been that way for Angie, an only Angie. Her smile made his heart race, her winks made him blush – how could he be just friends with someone who made him feel like this?

"Okay." Ray nodded, confirming his words. "Friends."

Angie smiled wide, pulling him back into a hug as she sighed deeply against the cotton fabric of his shirt, taking in the sweet, devastatingly deadly aroma of motor oil and cologne. She missed it. She missed the way his clothes smelled and how the scent would rub off on her own clothes. She missed his fingers touching all the right parts of her, she missed the way he snored in the morning, which to most people sounded like a chainsaw. She didn't know she missed all these things until they weren't there any more: the smell disappearing from her clothes, the touch of his rough hands on her skin, and yes, even the sound of his snoring in the morning.

"Ang?" Ray asked, his voice muffled in her thick, curly locks of hair.  
"Hm?"  
"Did you ever think about-…" He stopped himself. Clearing his throat he tried again. "Did you ever think about maybe… You and I having…?"  
Angie bit her bottom lip, burying her face deeper in his collar as she nodded her head, her hair swaying back and forth as she did. She was afraid he was gonna ask that million dollar question about kids. "I did. At one point."

Ray stayed silent, hoping that he hadn't just reopened old wounds. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, again. He rubbed down her back, his hand finding the sweet spot in on the small of her back as she shivered in his arms. A sick grin grew on his face as Angie took a swift breath of air, trying to conceal her previous involuntary shake. He loved making her shake and shiver, a common pastime during their relationship as he found different places that made her weak in the knees.

This was the beginning of a beautiful and confusing _friendship_.

Ray's eyes widened as the words became clearer now. He wouldn't be able to make his _friend_ shiver like that, no longer able to hold his _friend_ in his arms, no longer making his _friend_giggle just to hear her laugh.

_Friend_.

Fuck.

* * *

Pure.


	5. Help Wanted

I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.  
I don't own Ghostbusters.

* * *

Janine Melnitz groaned, her usually demeanor fresh on her face which at this point, five years later, had even larger glasses covering her delicate face. Her long fingers wrapped around the phone, lifting it from the receiver as she pressed it to her ear. "Ghostbusters?" The lady on the phone sounded desperate, but in all her worry over her ghostly phenomenon she still had the simple composure to ask "_Are you guys really back?"  
_A sickly grin spread across her face at the question, the kind she would be embarrassed if anyone had seen. "Yes, we're back."

The first job Janine had, as per direct orders from Venkman, as to put out a "_Help Wanted_" ad in the Sunday news paper. Nothing fancy, just something that would attract the right person; the right person being someone who doesn't mind working like a dog for eleven five a year. She'd made sure to keep the name "Ghostbusters" out of the ad, not wanting to get fan boys showing up wanting to play with the proton packs. Egon would have a field day!

The first appointment of the day had gone flat, the applicant seemed disinterested in the work, and even zoned out a couple times as Janine was interviewing them. Janine got tired of their attitude and threw them out of the firehouse, threatening them if they came back. Venkman was sort of impressed by her switch, but more than impressed, he was also a little scared.

The second appointment was supposed to go much better, the applicant sounding rather eager on the phone; even giddy! Janine had finished up with the last applicant, now putting away the persons resume, which listed "Video Games" as a skill, in its proper place: in the trash.

It was about twelve when the second applicant walked through the door, her silky caramel colored hair pulled into a high pony tail away from her soft face as she smiled, taking in the scene around her. She gazed at the walls of equipment, most of which Egon had to modify to fix small bugs in the system. Her eyes wondered around the main garage before landing on Janine at her desk in the middle of all this. Janine smiled brightly, faking her expression to the farthest existent as she offered her hand. "Hi. I'm Janine, I'll be interviewing you today."  
"Hi, Janine." She said, shaking Janine's outstretched hand with a firm grip. "My name is Remy Safar."

Remy sat down in the seat behind her, crossing her honey colored legs together to keep her modesty. Her dark, falcon like eyes set on Janine as she went through some paper work. "Okay, so you're applying for the part-time investigator, is that right?"  
"Yes, that's right."  
"Why don't you just tell me a little bit about yourself?" Janine asked, resting her chin on her hand.

"I was born in Lebanon, grew up there until my parents moved my brothers and I to American, before the civil war. I went to public school most of my life, and I'm currently enrolled at New York University."  
"Do you have any special skills?"  
"I am fluent in Arabic, since most of family doesn't speak English. I am not opposed to hard work and getting 'down and dirty' as they might say. I also don't mind doing research as I'm currently at school; research is pretty much my life right now." She laughed.  
"Now, I've got to ask." Janine started as she looked down at the folder in her hands. "Do you believe in UFO's, astral projection, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trans-medium, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?"

Remy narrowed her eyes, curious as she replayed the number of questions in her head. Full trans-what?

Saving her from having to answer Janine's 'routine' questions, Peter and Ray walked down the staircase from the upstairs. They had both been talking about how to reach new customers, but coming up with nothing, zilch. Peter recommended another thirty minute break from brainstorming, just enough time to see the exotic beauty Janine was interviewing. The boys stopped in their tracks, pausing on the stairs as they gawked at her. She had beautiful tan skin around a toned body; she had her hair pulled up out of her face, displaying her gorgeous Arabian features. They were stunned.

Peter continued to stare at the beautiful creature in their firehouse, elbowing Ray in the chest as he whispered "Dibs."

The two women noticed them on the staircase, standing up as Remy smiled widely at them. Good god she was pretty, Peter thought as he practically ran down the staircase to meet her. Ray on the other hand took the slower route, pacing himself as Peter laid on the charm for her.

"I'm Dr. Peter Venkman." He said, grabbing her delicate hand in his. She continued to smile as she introduced herself. "Remy Safar, pleasure to meet you, Doctor."  
"Please, the pleasure is all mine." He said, almost growled as he bent at the hip to kiss her hand. She blushed slightly at the motion, but it didn't faze her too much. Janine shouted from the background, "She's here for the open position on the team."

Peter's eyebrow rose to the heavens as he eyed the young woman. "I don't know, Miss Safar. I don't know if you'd be able to handle our 'experimental' equipment." Peter said, making up excuses as to why she couldn't work for them. "I mean, have you ever shot a beam of positively charged ions at a negatively charged plasm?"  
"Well, no…" She admitted, earning a faux-scoff from Peter. "But what I don't have in shooting capabilities, I can make up for. I can always learn how to shoot big bad ghosties."  
A deathly smirk rose on Peter's tired features, an idea fresh in his mind as he exclaimed "Beautiful! You're hired."  
"Really?"  
"Really. Can you start today? We've got a lot to go over-!" Peter started before being cut off by the young woman wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She repeated, her words muffed by the fabric in his shirt before she pulled away, her eyes smiling with the rest of her pretty face. "You won't regret this."  
"I hope not. We're going out on a limb for you." Peter said, earning another hug from the jumpy young woman. He smiled, getting used to the fact of having her around. "Now, I'll take you down to the basement so you can meet the rest of the team, 'kay?" Peter said as Remy stopped hugging him for just a moment, wrapping her arm around his as he led her back behind Janine's desk.

Ray shook his head as he watched Peter 'work his magic' on the new kid. Hopefully, this wasn't just a trick to sleep with her and kick her out, leaving a broken heart and still a position left to fill. She seemed eager, which was good, refreshing almost to have in the firehouse. And hey! Maybe a woman's touch is just what this place needed!

"Well isn't that something?" Janine groaned, placing her hands on her hips. "You'd think he'd never seen a girl before!" Ray didn't say a word, still in shock from how easily it was for Peter to hire her, charm her as he did so well with women. Janine just shook her head at how juvenile they were all being around a pretty girl. They acted like teenage boys, gawking at a pretty girl from the other side of the cafeteria.

The front door opened, squeaking as it did alarming Ray and Janine that her next appointment was here. It was the final appointment of the day, before she could go back to answering phones and making coffee. Despite how horrible it sounds, she actually preferred it to all this interviewing crap. The young women walked through the door way, her tall heels clicking as she rounded the Ecto-one, moaning at its current condition.

"Ray, I thought you of all people would have taken better care of this thing." She said, her voice echoing off the vacant walls. Her voice was so familiar, he thought before mentally slapping himself. Of course it sounded familiar; she was here only a few days ago.

Kitty smiled brightly as she walked up to Janine's desk. She was early, learning over the years that it was always best to be early then late for an interview. Ray stuck his hand out, blocking her way to the desk before asking "You're not the last interviewee, are you? Is she?" He asked Janine as she flipped through her day planner, finding today on the calendar. "Yep! Katherine Reed interview – 2:30."  
"I know I'm a little early, I can wait if you're in the middle of something."  
"Not at all. The last interview was over surprisingly quickly." Janine said before offering Kitty a seat. Kitty smiled as she took the seat, despite Ray's concern. He stood, hovering over the two of them as he watched the interview, choosing to oversee this one as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"So, Ms. Reed. Tell me a little bit about yourself."  
"I am a native of Poker, Maryland. Don't worry, no one has ever heard of it. I moved here five years ago with my sister, where we live together in cute little apartment. Uh… average grades through high school where I excelled at drama and glee club. That was one of the reasons we moved to New York in the first place. But um, after we moved here I kind of put that on the back burner."  
"Do you have any special skills?"  
"I use to work as a receptionist in a dentist when I lived in Maryland, so book keeping is a big one. I also enjoy research, something I didn't know about myself until I started community college. Oh! And I have first-hand experience in the paranormal."  
"'First-hand'?"  
"I was possessed by a Sumerian dog that lived in my closet." Kitty explained, laying her hands in her lap.

Janine just blinked a bit; having heard a lot of strange stories, this one almost took the cake. She swallowed before looking down at the folder in her hands, reading off the 'script' Peter had laid out for her as she interviewed unsuspecting applicants.

"Okay, Ms. Reed, I have to ask you some questions now. Though, I don't see why: Do you believe in UFO's, astral projection, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trans-medium, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?"

Kitty thought a bit, before coming up with her smart assed answer. "Do you want me to address each individually or lumped all together?"  
"Lumped all together, preferably."  
"Okay…" Kitty said, itching her ear lobe with her free hand. "Maybe."

Peter and Remy returned from the basement, smiling and giggling as two teenagers. Remy was having a blast being shown around the firehouse with Peter's escort. She'd met Egon and Winston in the basement, and even learned that Winston would be teaching her, even after Peter's protests. As they returned to the surface, Peter's eyes locked on the young woman sitting at Janine's desk now, the color rushing from his face. _'Oh shit._'

"Kitty!" Peter exclaimed, being taken back by the suddenly omnipresent Kitty, as she was everywhere he turned around. He was aware that Remy had her hand wrapped over his arm, her soft skin stroking his wrist. "This isn't what it looks like."

"Ms. Reed is also here for the investigator position." Janine said, a smug tone in her voice as she watched her boss faced with a dilemma. Peter looked back and forth from the girls, making his choice in his head. Kitty wanted the job? Ha! "No."

"No? What do you mean no?" Kitty shouted, outraged at his casualness. Peter just shook his head.  
"It's a bad idea to mix business relationships with personal relationships; right Ray?" Peter said, looking to Ray for some back up, as he was the 'expert' in that field now. Ray flipped him an obscene gesture before leaning on the hood of the Ecto-one, watching Peter bury himself.

"Besides, you have no experience in the field."  
"I was possessed! How much more experience do I need?"  
"I'm sorry, Kit. But we just don't have a position available."  
"Yes we do!" Janine shouted over Peter and Kitty's argument. They both looked to her in confusion as she elaborated. "You promised me you would hire some more help five years ago."  
"What are you getting at?" Peter asked, causing Janine to groan. She was going to have to spell it out for him.  
"Hire Remy for the investigator, and hire Kitty to help out around the firehouse. Lord knows, you could use some help around here."

Peter thought about it. Hiring two women wasn't exactly what he was planning on doing, having limited funds as it is. However, with Remy taking on some extra jobs, more money would be pulled in, and Janine could occasionally have some time off, giving Kitty a job. It was crazy, but it could just work out. Peter looked from Kitty's pleading face, to Remy's satisfied one, bouncing back and forth between them.

"Alright. Kitty, you start work Monday." Peter said, his gravely expression seeping into his voice as Kitty smiled, jumping up and down at this job opportunity. Finally, she'd have a chance to join the work force again, taking some of the immense pressure off Angie for a little while.

"Ray," Peter called out, causing Ray to perk up a bit on the hood of the dirty Ecto-One. "Why don't you fill Remy in on the protocol of busting, huh?" Peter pushed, guiding Remy from his arm to Ray's.

Ray sent him a dirty look, but went along with it as Remy smiled. Her long fingers wrapped around his forearm as he lead the young woman upstairs, trying to fill her in on the process without drilling in a whole bunch of psycho-babble.

Kitty's brows creased at the woman's reaction to Ray, her eyes lighting up with each giggle from her lips. Something inside Kitty snapped, no longer liking the woman she'd just met only five minutes earlier. But, she couldn't focus on Ray and Remy, even if it was distracting seeing her sister's ex-boyfriend being hit on by such an exotic looking woman. She had to focus on the good news: she had a job! And now to tell Angie.  
_Angie_.  
Angie would have a heart attack if she knew that some bombshell was working with the guys, going on investigations with the guys, _sleeping_ in the same room as them - her head would explode!

No, Angela Reed was to never find out about Remy Safar.

* * *

HA-HA! I'm back, baby!  
Did you miss me? No?  
... okay...  
November was a pain, but I wrote all month.  
End word count 57,442.  
So I wrote a novel.  
Yay.

Hope you enjoyed it. Look forward to more update in the next coming months.

~Pure


	6. Meeting of the Opposites

I do not own Ghostbusters.  
That right is reserved for Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

"I don't know what you want from me." Kitty admitted as she stared intently on the vial of pink ooze Ray had found under First Avenue. Egon sighed, rubbing the sweet spot between his eyes, sensing a headache coming on with or without Kitty's help.

Her job at the firehouse was an odd one. She was responsible for everything and nothing all at the same time. She was a maid one day, a mechanic the next, and then a lab rat after that; it was insanity! Egon seemed to be the only one truly benefiting from having Kitty around, as she wouldn't mind stopping cleaning the dishes to help with a science experiment. Today was no exception.

Kitty laid her head on the table, staring at the tub of goop for about an hour and a half now. Egon pulled her away from cleaning to help with this experiment. The boys were gone; all three of them took Remy out for a training session, showing her the ropes of the proton pack, how to set a trap, and even warning her about crossing the streams. Whether or not they could actually tell her about all this and have her understand were two different things. But she seemed smart enough, from the fifteen minutes of knowing her the other day.

Egon ran his hand through his hair as he explained the experiment one last time, getting aggravated by the lack of results. "We're testing to see if female energy would have an effect on the slimes response." Egon explained, again. "We've done control test, and then we've done a male energy test. We just need to see what would happen if a female was present."

Seemed easy enough; just stick a girl in front of the slime, see if it reacts. If it does, great! If not, well, back to square one. Though, over the hour and half the slime hadn't moved. Kitty groaned, straightening up her back, earning two deliciously deviant pops from her joints as she then sighed.

Egon sat down in the chair opposite her as he placed his glasses on the table in front of him, rubbing the sore spot on the bridge of his nose. His headache was getting worse, if only by the fact that where at a stalemate with the goo. He'd tried everything besides electro-stock therapy, which Ray thought would burn the slime, filling the firehouse with a rather unpleasant smell.

"Okay, you can go back to work now." Egon sighed, putting his glasses back on his face, causing the formless blurs in his vision to turn to actual shapes. "Sorry I wasted you time."  
"You didn't waste my time," Kitty argued. "We found out that different genders don't make it react any differently, so it's gotta be something else!" Egon smirked, nodding along with her theory, enjoying a positive outcome on something so wasteful. Kitty smiled as she stood up from the foldout chair, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "Plus, I get to have a little bit of a break."  
"You can have a break when ever you'd like."  
"At this rate, I'll never get this place clean if keep taking breaks!" Kitty exclaimed, through her hands in the air in a dramatic fashion as she grabbed her feather duster, aiming for a thick cob web in the corner.

With a flick of the wrist Kitty was back to cleaning, clearing the layer of dust and collection of cobwebs from the corners with her feather duster as it only pushed around the dust. If anything, it made cleaning worse as now she had to vacuum the upstairs dorm, _again_. Her internal bitching came to a stop when she heard the front door open and close with the particular racket she'd come to know. A smile spread on her lips as she figured the boys and Remy had gotten back, or at least Louis was back from lunch, quickly learning after his first day as the Ghostbusters accountant that he'd better eat off the premises. She'd felt bad for her former neighbor, but was still laughing at the memory of him running out of the firehouse screaming after the onion-headed specter "Slimer" ate his lunch.

"Hello? Anyone home?" A female voice shouted from down stairs. Kitty smiled as she stood at the top of the staircase and shouted back.  
"Up here!"  
Angie bounced up the staircase, her curly hair now frizzed from the cold weather outside as they inched closer and closer to the holiday season. Despite the terrible condition her hair was in, she wore a smile on her face, the contagious one that made everyone light up when she walked through the doorway. Angie didn't stop at the top of the stairs, making a bee-line for Kitty as she wrapped her arms around Kitty's chest, stunning Kitty as she dusted the top of the cabinet.

Kitty paused, staying in her extended position as Angie nuzzled her ribcage, giggling lightly as she did. "What the hell is a matter with you?" Kitty finally asked, lowering herself onto the ground as Angie pulled away, her smiled even wider now than before.  
"I got a job."

The two girls hugged again, this time Angie sharing the good news with Kitty causing her to smile too. Angie couldn't believe it took this long to find a job! After working for Bilson for four and half years he fires her, leaving her out on the streets of New York without her crappy, minimum wage job. Momentarily stunned by the news, Angie took the unemployment life hard. She didn't like sitting around doing nothing, she needed to get out there and work, or volunteer, or intern or _something_! But now, the gods had smiled on her, replacing her crappy minimum wage job with an even crappier job making less then minimum wage; but it was a job. Kitty pulled away, facing the ecstatic Angie as she asked "So what are you gonna be doing?"  
"I'm gonna be serving."  
"Nice."  
"I know, but it's better than not working. Plus we do a lot of high-end venues, so I might be able to climb my way up the corporate ladder."  
"You mean kiss ass?"  
"Bingo."

The two girls laughed, before noticing the silent scientist in the corner, still trying to figure out about the goop. Angie wrapped her arm around Kitty as she walked towards Egon and the goo. "Hello there, Egon."  
"Angie."  
"What are you doing?" Angie asked, peering over the dining table as she watched the bubblegum colored slime sit contently in its container. Egon wrote down some notes in a folder, taking some key notes as he explained, without lifting his head. "I'm testing whether or not the environment the ectoplasm is in has an effect on its conductivity or its ability to produce Class IV apparitions."  
"What he means is—"  
"I know what he means." Angie said, taking a seat opposite Egon as he continued jotting down notes. "You forget, I am fluent techno-babble." Angie said with a smirk on her face as she winked to Kitty. Egon nodded, his mind far away from the mundane ramblings of an ecstatic Angie.

"Anyway, where are the guys? I want to tell them my good news."  
"They're not here." Kitty said. Slowly Egon looked up from his papers as he watched the sisters talk between themselves. "They're out training the new kid."  
"New kid?" Angie questioned, earning Kitty a stiff look from Egon. They'd talked about this, it was even Kitty's idea not to mention Remy to Angie at all cost. "I didn't know you guys were hiring a new investigator. Who are they?"

Kitty stuttered, a rare occurrence but a dead giveaway as Angie watched her calmly loose her cool. "They uh… they are a…" Kitty tried to find the words, but was drawing a massive blank. "They are nobody. Just, uh, nobody… right, Egon?" Kitty asked, looking to Egon for help as he rose in hands in early defeat, getting out while they were still ahead.  
"Kit." Angie said, drawing out the vowel in her nickname as her eyes narrowed on the younger of the two. Kitty had the worst poker face she'd ever seen, having been that way since childhood. Needless to say, poker was always fun around their house. "Kit, who are '_they'_?"

A change in wind occurred as the gods were now against the pair. The front door opened franticly as the roar of an engine echoed off the vacant walls. The engine backfired upon entering the firehouse, causing Ray to curse loudly over the grumbling engine. The engine shut off as they were able to hear the sounds of the doors opening and closing, Peter leading the way in filling the silence with voices.

"You know, I think that's been the first case in a long time that actually went well."  
"That was great, Remy!"  
"You did good, kid."

Angie smiled at the sound of their voices, rushing the staircase to meet them in the garage area. She was so excited to tell everyone the good news, even random people on the street, who really didn't get a rat's ass what she did. She took the stairs two-by-two as she skipped down to the main garage, Kitty and Egon rushing to stop her before she got too far down.

"Angie!"  
"Angie, wait!"

Angie paused at the bottom of the stairs, gazing at the young beauty before her. Kitty mentally slapped herself, holding the record of keeping things from Angie at an astounding 1. Peter rounded the Ecto-One as he smiled at her. "Hey Angie, what on earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you be trying to lure unsuspecting children into your house made of candy?"  
Angie smiled. "Go ahead, Venkman. Nothing you can say is going to make me unhappy."  
"Those pants make you look fat."  
"Nope."  
"Your hair looks like you stuck your finger in a light socket."  
"Not gonna happen." Angie said, almost singing as she teased Peter. Ray's brows creased, curious at her good mood. "What's going on?"

"I got a new job today!" She exclaimed, barely able to contain it any longer. Ray smiled wide before pulling Angie into a friendly hug, patting her on the back before releasing her. He tried more than anything not to hover, or hold on too long. But still, he was happy for his _friend_ as she beamed wilding around the room.  
"Congrats, Angie."  
"Thanks Zee." She said before looking back at the exotic beauty in the room, her silence suspicious. Angie walked over to the young lady and extended her hand to her, faking a smile. "I don't think we've met, I'm Angie Reed."

"I'm Remy Safar, nice to meet you." She took Angie's hand with a fierce grip, shaking her hand enthusiastically. Angie smiled, watching the woman eight years her senior. "Remy, is it? You don't happen to be the new recruit, are you?"  
"Yeah! I've only been working here for a couple days though."  
"And I'm sure Peter's showing you the ropes. He's great at that kind of stuff." Angie said, sending a wink Venkman's way.  
"Oh, they all are! Especially Dr. Spengler; he said I could help him with his epididemis." She said enthusiastically. Angie's eyes widened as she turned to face a blushing Egon. As she said earlier she was, in fact, fluent in techno-babble.  
"That seems out of character for him, he usually doesn't have people handle his _epididemis_ lightly." Angie said, holding back a laugh as she watched Egon turn a nice shade of red. "That's usually Peter's job—"

Peter coughed loudly, interrupting the entertaining banter between the two girls as he hacked up a lung. "Remy, why don't you help Ray clean the traps? We'll see if we can't get Angie to leave us alone."  
"No need, Venkie." Angie said, patting him on the shoulder. "I need to be heading home anyway. I've got a big day tomorrow." Angie walked backwards, waving bye to everyone. "See yah. Nice to meet you, Remy!" She shouted before making her way to the door.

She walked slower than normal as she watched Ray and Remy interact, feeling like a fly on the wall but looking like the world's worst peeping tom. Ray had opened the back of the Ecto-one, grabbing the traps and giving them to Remy as she giggled at something he said; maybe a joke or something.

Their skin touched, her eyes glittered, he blushed; Angie's heart stopped beating. She said something to him, at this point their voices sounding like Charlie Browns teacher as Remy winked at Ray, causing his blush to deepen as he closed the back of the door with a satisfying thud.

Ray had moved on. He found this new girl; someone who is younger and prettier, gets along well with Venkman. Angie was older, a little heavier in some places and would never get along with Venkman was long as she lived. Remy was Super Woman while Angie was simply Lois Lane.

In short, she was anti-Angie. Maybe that's just what Ray needed.

* * *

I had to look up what an epididemis was since earlier in the movie at Ray's Occult, Egon referenced it when talking to Peter about 'those college girls'.  
Peter shrugged it off, but I had to look it up.  
NSFW.  
But seriously, look it up.  
I hope you enjoyed it!

~Pure


	7. Winter Solstice

I don't not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty Reed, Angela Reed, and Remy Safar.

WARNING!: Adult content ahead. Ye have been warned.

* * *

It was December 21st, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the first day of winter - though the last few days of fall certainly played the part. The sun had been put to bed early today, resting behind the New York skyline at four o'clock this afternoon. The city was dark at only six o'clock, the neon lights shining brightly from the city around them.

Angie knew she had to get home soon and get ready for her next shift, but she couldn't wait to tell Kitty about her day, despite the abnormally boring day it was. She was waitress, picking up peoples plates and giving them silverware when they drop it, that was the highlight of her night. But she needed to tell someone about it, giddy from the excitement.

She made her way through the large black double doors; the strong scent of motor oil hit her nose as she walked through to the main garage. The Ecto-one had been put away from the day, not having quiet as many calls today as they normally would. The body of the Ecto-one was dirty, cracking in some areas and even rusting around the wheels. One side of the windshield had been cracked, and it seemed like it would fall apart at any minute. Out of all of the things that could have been in disarray, the Ecto-one shouldn't have been the first thing to wither. Ray knows how to fix cars, maintain them – what the hell did he do to the poor ole' Ecto?

Angie was pulled from her survey of the body of the Ecto-one by a small frame wedged between the hood and the engine, the sound of the wrench in their hand clicking loudly. Remy climbed out of the car, rubbing a spot on her face, only to replace the itch with coagulated oil. She smiled at Angie, flashing her pearly white as her as she wiped her dirty fingers on a spare rag. Angie tried to smile at her, she truly did, but her heart sank ever so slightly as she looked to Remy's jumpsuit, the words "STANTZ" written in red over the left breast.

"Hey!" Remy said, tossing the rag over in the corner before slamming the hood of the Ecto-one, closing it. "I'm sorry, I don't quiet remember your name."  
"Oh, it's Angie."  
"Oh yeah! Sorry, I'm terrible with names." She admitted before leaning against the Ecto-one. Diving deep into the breast pocket, Remy pulled out a pack of Ray's cigarettes, taking one out of the pack before lighting it between her teeth. Angie bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something rude.  
"Umm… Who all is here? I've got to talk to the guys – or Kitty, if she's available."  
"Winston took her home, and Peter and Egon are out on a pizza run."  
"So it's just you and Ray here, then?" Angie asked, her voice straining as jealousy rose in her throat. Remy smiled wickedly, a smirk creeping along her face. "Yeah, it's just us."  
_Us._

Angie shook her head, trying to drive away the initial pain of Remy's words. "I'm gonna… Uh… Head up and talk to him for a bit, 'kay?"  
"Okay then!" Remy exclaimed as she her attention back to Ecto-one. Angie started her assent to the second floor before stopping. Spinning around on the platform, Angie looked back to Remy.

"I just wanted to let you know if you hurt my boys, I will break you face." Remy laughed, believing Angie's threat to be a joke.  
"I mean it. It might not seem like a lot to you, but they genuinely like you and they have a tenancy to do anything for their friends. With Egon's comment the other day, and you and Ray spending so much time -… I just don't want to see them get hurt. These boys may be just _your_ bosses, but they're _my_ boys."  
Remy smirked as she raised an eyebrow, her emotions turning less than joyous.

"I don't know what you are talking about. It seems like they've been fine without you. I mean, they're helping Dana Barrett; they'd got their business back all on their own. You've done nothing. You gotten fired, congrats; but other than that you are a _damsel_, waiting for someone to save you and your sister."

Angie paused, Remy's words bouncing around her head as the young woman walked off victorious. Damsel? Is that what she was? A damsel in distress? Sure, she hadn't helped the guys out, nothing physically picking up a proton pack during the fight with Stay-Puft; but wasn't a damsel. Kitty was the one that needed help, if anything _she_ was the damsel.  
If Kitty was the damsel, what did that make Angie?

She tried to shake the words free from her head, but failing to do so as several key words stuck with her: _"You've done nothing"  
"You are a damsel"  
"They've been fine without you"._

Angie turned up the stairs, the wooden planks beneath her feet squeaking as she reached the dorm room upstairs. The common room was starting to fill in, books back on the bookshelf, Egon and Ray's experiments in the small lab they had set up in the corner; they even had enough money for a pinball machine, the current high scorers initial's "ASS" flashing in bright yellow.

Ray sat at the dining room table, huddled over a clip board as he took notes on the nonreactive goo. He jotted down the basic stats of the goo, nothing notable changing over the past couple days even with all their experimentation. At one point, Ray had got so fed up, he actually let Egon try electro-shock. The short bursts of alternating current burned the goo, filling the common room with smoke and the thick stench of burnt plastic.

Angie walked across the floor over to the table, peering over Ray's shoulder as she read what he was writing down. His messy handwriting had always been a pain to read, but now it seemed physically impossible as none of the letters looked like anything more than abstract squiggles.

"Hi, Ray." Angie said, scaring the scientist as he jumped at the sound of her voice. She tried to hide a smile behind her hand as she sat down next to him, staring back at the goo. "Whatcha doing?"  
"I'm trying to see if anything has changed over the past twenty four hours, so far nothing." Ray sighed, running his hands through his hair. Angie narrowed her eyes at the pink goop, watching it as it lay stagnant.

"Maybe it just needs some encouragement." Angie said as she leaned in close to the jar. "You can do it! I believe in you, goopy!" Angie joked, over-dramatizing the 'encouragement' as sarcasm dripped from every word. The pink slime stayed still, not even a ripple as Angie leaned back in her creaking chair. "That's all I've got." Angie said, throwing her hands up in defeat. Ray shook his head, laughing as he sighed. "It was worth a shot."

"Maybe there is a certain button you need to press." Angie joked again, looking around the table for an imaginary button. Ray shook his head. "We've done everything; we can't get it to move." Ray said, crossing his arms over the table and he rested his head down. "Why won't it move?"

Angie bit her bottom lip, short of drawing blood as she reached out to Ray, placing hand on his shoulder. She felt him shutter, a chill running up his spine at the simple touch of her skin. He lifted his head, looking over at the woman before him. She smiled at him, that bright, contagious smile she had always had as it made his heart skip a beat.

The silence was deafening, the two of them just sitting in silence, something they hadn't done since way before the break up. Angie pulled her hand away, causing Ray's heart to return to his chest cavity. Clearing his throat, Ray sat up straight, leaning against the back of his chair as his eyes locked on to the goo. "So, umm…" Ray started, clearing the air of the silence. "Not to sound rude, but, why are you here?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot. I had my first day at the new job today." Angie said, smiling.  
"That's great!"  
"I thought so. Everyone was really nice, and even helped me with my stupid questions – which is always a good thing."  
"Of course." Ray said, smiling back. She was so happy about this job, smiling and giggling; it was like a brand new Angie.

Angie leaned back, nodding as she took tally of all of her injuries from that night. Tired feet, achy back, splitting headache; and that was just the first hour.

"Oh, and I got to meet you're new girl down stairs." Angie said, rubbing the base of her neck to ease her headache. Ray's eye brow rose, curious at her thoughts on Remy.  
"Oh? What did you think?"  
"Honestly?"  
"Yeah."  
"I think she's devious." Angie said, earning a pop from her neck. Ray eyed her. "Why do you say that?"

"I just don't like her." Angie said, leaving it at that. She figured that's all that she needed to say, why dwell on the situation if you didn't need to? Ray shook his head. "Are you sure this isn't just some evolutionary female competition for owner ship over the males—"

"No. No." Angie said standing up from her chair as she shook her head, wide eyed at his response.  
The slime bubbled.  
"Stop using that psychology crap on me. You always do this whenever I have an issue."  
"What do you want me to do? Listen to your rant about how you get 'bad vibes' from her?"  
"You of ALL people should know about vibes and intuition."  
"There is always an explanation—"  
"Yeah, she's evil!" Angie exclaimed, ignoring the fact that Remy could possibly hear their entire conversation. "She can't be trusted."  
"Could it be that you're jealous?"  
The slime bubbled again, climbing the glass sides of the jar.  
"Jealous?" Angie scoffed, annoyed by the sound of the word. "I am not jealous of that man-eater down there."  
"Oh come on." Ray groaned.  
"She's got all of you eating out of the palm of her hand."  
"She's nice."  
"She's playing you all like a violin!"  
"Why are you even here? Huh?" Ray finally shouted, his voice abnormally loud for his quiet and soft demeanor. "I was perfectly fine before you came back into my life." He lied.  
"Same here, pal!"  
"Then why don't you just leave us all alone?"

Angie stood there, stunned at the words leaving his mouth. Remy was right, they didn't need her. She was just a distraction, everyone was better off without her there. Angie nodded her head, holding back tears as she choked out. "Is that what you want?"  
Ray was silent, biting his bottom lip as he replayed the words in his head. Another fight, another argument, another chance for her to leave again.

Angie took his silence as an agreement; hot tears began to free fall from her eyes as she sniffed back. "Fine, I'll go." She choked, two tracks of tears running down her soft cheeks as she let loose one last jab.

"Have fun with your Jell-o mold, Dr. Stantz."

With hot tears streaming down her frigid face, she did the one thing she said she wouldn't: She let him get too close. She knew she'd get hurt if she did, but she didn't listen. Never did she think that Ray would hurt her, but he had, killing her slowly with his dagger-like words. She got to the top of the stairs, about to walk out of his life forever as she grabbed the guard rail.

"Angie!" Ray called out, causing her to turn around. She rubbed her eyes, wiping away the tears before they left her eyes as she paused at the top of the staircase. She turned back around to Ray as he started at the table in front him, his jaw hanging loose in shock of the sight before him.

Curiosity got the better of her as she walked back to the table, letting her anger towards Ray slip away in the night as she gazed at the jar of slime before them. The pink ooze had grown in size, bubbling up and over the masons jar, leaking onto the table in a seven inch radius. Ray was lost for words. "How… What..?"

"Full sentences, Ray." Angie stated, in shock herself as the goo was now stagnant as earlier. She shook her head slowly as she tried to understand what had happened.  
"What happened?" Ray asked, running his hands through his dark hair. He was thrilled, but confused. How did this happen?  
If only they hadn't been fighting, he would have been able to monitor the slime reaction and maybe see what had caused it. Egon would never let him live this down.

But what caused it? He racked his brain trying to figure out the answer. What did the courtroom, and the firehouse have that changed the slime? At the time, the Judge was throwing the book at them, calling them every name in the book as she yelled at the top of his lungs at them. Then the Scoleri Brothers showed up, putting an end to the screaming. At the firehouse, no one was on trial, but they were both yelling, shouting harmful things at each other.

"That's it!" Ray shouted, causing Angie to jump at his sudden outburst. With a bit of a cackle, he smiled wide; shocked in himself that he figured it out. Angie looked at him like he was crazy, judging him from a far.

"That's it! Ang, it's the emotion. Emotion was what made the slime twitch at the courthouse, it's what made it bubble up here; intense, passionate emotions. It all makes sense now. Why none of our experiments worked, why it didn't do anything except at 'random' times. Do you know what this means? We've cracked the code!" Ray laughed. Angie smiled brightly as Ray had, in fact, cracked the code. She turned to him to see him smile, ecstatic that it worked.

She couldn't help herself, her body moving on its own as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.

Ray stood stunned at Angie's one-eighty in emotions. Still, he didn't argue when she threw herself against him, feeling her warmth around his neck, her strawberry scented hair teasing his nose as he tried to hold back a moan. Slowly, tentatively, he wrapped his arms around her waist, his hand grazing the soft exposed skin as her shirt lifted a little bit. He heard her moan lightly against his shoulder when it hit him: She wasn't over him.

She was still receptive to his caresses, she still moaned at the lightness of his fingertips. He tried his theory once more as he gazed his thumb over the small of her back. Again he earned a moan from deep within.

Her heart beat out of her chest, now taking over the silence as she moaned with each caress. She knew he could hear her, embarrassed he still had this effect on her after all these years. She sighed deeply, taking in the sweet aroma of cologne and motor oil on his flannel shirt. The strangely comforting smell made her relax, her tense muscles releasing as she sort of melted in his arms.

Agonizingly slow, Angie pulled herself away, pushing on Ray's shoulders until she could move in front of him. She hovered in front him, inches away from his lips. His dark brown eyes looked at her with the same passion that he had years ago. She ached for him, needing him, wanting him for the past three years. She pulled on the back of his neck, pulling them closer and closer. His breath hitched, as she leaned in closer before their lips crashed into each other.

Her heart leapt up into her throat as Ray kissed her back, leaning her back. Her arms circled back around his neck as she pulled him even closer, feeling his chest flush against her breasts. His hands explored her body with a boyish fervor, running up and down her back as he tried to take in her, making up for lost time.

She pulled away, panting heavily as she leaned her forehead against his, gazing up at his feverish brown eyes. "So much for being 'just friends'." She remarked, panting heavily as her chest rose and fell with each deep breath. He smiled before crashing his lips into her once more, shutting her up from any more remarks as they worked backwards.

The slime bubbled in delight.

Angie walked backwards before finding a hard surface against her back. The pool table behind snuck up out of nowhere to catch her off guard as she jumped. Ray smiled against her lips at her jumpiness, as his hand came up to cup the side of her face, pulling her deeper into the kiss. He wanted her, and he wanted her to know how much he wanted her. The past three years had been hell without her, and he wasn't going to let her get away that easily.

With a bout of courage he summoned from within, Ray's other hand snaked its way down her backside as she bucked her hips in response, riding up against him with a deep moan. He smiled as his hand continued down her leg, wrapping his rough fingers around her thigh as he pulled it around his waist. She moaned enthusiastically as he began to lower her on onto the back of the pool table. Ray leant over the angel as she squirmed under him, getting comfortable as he lowered himself over top of her.

Her hand began to race down from his shoulders, stroking his chest lightly before reaching for his pants hem. He moaned against her lips, a shiver running up his spine as her fingertips ran softly to the front of his pants, hovering only inches above him as he felt himself harden. She could feel it too as she grinded against him, earning a new sound from his lips sounding something of a yelp. She smiled as she began to pull at the hem of the annoying flannel shirt, releasing it from the confines of his jeans.

His fingertips traced along her thigh, slowly pushing up the hem of her skirt before moving to the inside of her thigh, gliding across the sensitive skin. She gasped, just long enough for his tongue to slip through and claim her mouth for his own. She bucked against, earning another deviant groan from Ray as she teased him. With the flat of his palm, his hand rode up her thigh, caressing her hipbone as she gently rocked against him.

"Honey! We're home!" The sound of Venkman's voice echoed up the staircase, the sound of rustling paper filtering the air as the two of them jumped apart. Ray pulled back, taking a deep breath to reflect as the boys were home now.

Angie looked up from the pool table, her legs spread open slightly as the hem of skirt was crunched up to her waist, resembling more of a belt. Her light pink lipstick was smudged as she panted heavily. With a look of sheer annoyance, she groaned "I hate Venkman."

"Hey Ray, where are you?" Venkman called from the bottom of the staircase. "I'm up here." He replied without thinking. In a panic, Angie waved her arms back and forth, shaking her head as she mouthed the words 'I'm not here.'  
"And I'm alone!" Ray shouted as Angie fell backwards, hitting her head on the felt table behind her. She covered her eyes, knowing that they would see right through Ray's lie and come right up.

Something inside snapped. At this point she didn't care about Venkman or Egon or Winston, or even Kitty. She ached for Ray, needing him after being so close. She sat up from the pool table, looking over at Ray as he tried to tuck his shirt back into his jeans.

Angie slid off the edge of the pool table before grabbing his hand. With an enticing finger roll, she began to walk back towards the dorm room that all the boys shared. Ray followed in a stupor, silently questioning Angie's sanity level as the boys were right down stairs. Whispering ever so lightly, Angie pointed down to the second level.

"Tell them you're going to take a shower." She whispered, adding a seductive wink at the end. Ray's mouth dropped before he did what he was told.  
"I'm gonna take a shower now!" Ray exclaimed happily as he followed Angie into the dorm room, closing the door behind them.  
"That's great, Ray." Venkman shouted back from the garage. "Why don't to tell us next time you use the bathroom? We'll throw you a big party."

* * *

Phew!  
Well _that _excited quickly, didn't it?  
This was my first shot at writing a romance _anything,_ so I hope it doesn't completely suck.  
I hope you enjoyed it.

~pure.


	8. Good Morning, Starshine!

I don't not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

Angie snored, her mouth opened slightly at the corner as the nasally noise exited her mouth as she clutched the green blanket to her exposed chest. The firehouse was silent, not even the rat's made a noise – though if they had, they'd be no telling over the sound of her snoring. She seemed to sleep through the noise itself, which was odd when she was jolted awake by the sound of a car back-firing instead of the chronic snoring erupting from between her lips.

She sat straight up in bed, the green blanket falling to her waist as she looked around at the empty dorm room. The boys' beds were still made from the night before – well, at least Egon and Winston's were. Peter's looked something like a tornado tried to make it up, complete with rips in the sheets and random debris from the night before. It was curious, she thought, why the boys hadn't slept in their beds when she suddenly noticed how chilly it was in the room. She looked down at her chest and even in the darkness of the night, noticed that she wasn't wearing a shirt. In fact, to go into greater detail, she wasn't wearing anything besides the sheet on the bed, of which she pulled up to around her neck, hiding her naked body.

She mentally slapped herself at the idea of exposing her breast to the empty room, laughing at her own expense. How funny it would be for Venkman to walk in on the two of them as they slept, or even before when they were in less than saint-like positions. Knowing Peter and his loud mouth, he'd probably make a remark of how she was 'doing it wrong', and give her advice on how to fix it; the idea chilled her to the bone.

With the idea of 'chill' in her mind, she noticed that the warmth she'd fallen asleep to had disappeared; Ray wasn't beside her, fast asleep like she'd thought. Her brain racked around the idea before she figured he'd gone outside for a cigarette, or maybe went to find the boys for some sort of crowd control. Maybe he was working on another experiment with the slime, or maybe he simply disappeared into the night.

Ray wouldn't do that, she thought. He's too sweet; he would feel bad as soon as he closed the door if that had happened. He also wouldn't leave her at his place of work and temporary residence. That would just be poor planning, a terrible trait for a scientist.

Through the darkness, she could see faint shapes, the yellow street light outside aiding in her search for an article of clothing as she stuck her foot out from under the covers. Her toes touched the cold hard wood, sending a shock over the 'little piggies', as she searched for an article of clothing to throw on. Anything would do at this point, she thought. A shirt, pair of pants, one of the boys' jumpsuits – she would not discriminate. Something, anything to cover her exposed chest would be fantastic.

Finally, her toes traced along something soft. With dexterity her mother told her never to use, she wrapped her toes around the piece of fabric and flipped it up over end. It landed roughly in her lap as she shimmied her way into the garment. Sneaking her way into the shirt, she pulled one arm through the arm hole followed by the other, laughing at how big the shirt actually was against her frame. She wasn't the tiniest, but she felt like a child trying to wear 'big girl' clothes. Her fingers moved to the front of the shirt as she buttoned up the front of the shirt, the idea slowly dawning on her that it was Ray's flannel shirt from the night before. In fact, she was positive it was from the distinct smell of motor oil and cologne – Old Spice, if she wasn't mistaken.

She'd on purposely let the last few buttons near the collar of the shirt loose, creating a tantalizing neckline towards her chest; a bit of a surprise for Ray as she was feeling more courageous with him. It was like she was in high school again, feeling as giddy as a school girl. Though, the thought quickly dissipated as she went to stand up off the bed, the joints in her back sounding like a box of popular rice cereal as she stood up on her own.

So, she wasn't a school girl anymore - it didn't mean that she was old, she'd hoped. Sure she was getting on in years; her once youthful face earning a few new worry lines, bags started to appear under her eyes, and she couldn't ignore that whole back-popping thing – but it didn't mean she was old!

Her hand reached out to the door knob, twisting her wrist as the door opened, creaking as it did. How Ray didn't notice her was beyond her as he was right there at the door, sitting at the kitchen table.

With his head in his hand, Ray went over the notes he'd written down one more time. This was starting to get on his nerves as the goo was stagnant once more after growing exponentially, during his 'absence' with Angie. After Ray and Angie disappeared within the confides of the dorm room, the goop apparently had a bit of a workout as it had bubbled over once more, this time covering the entire table, dripping off the side into a small pool on the linoleum. This was an exceptional discovery, he'd thought as he collected the excess slime, spooning it off the floor and into a convincingly clean beaker from Egon's lab.

Now he was stuck analyzing it, noting it's characteristics in the middle of the night when all he'd wanted to do was to go back to bed and lie next to the young woman in his bed. But this occupied his mind for the moment, the riddle, the puzzle behind this goo was too enticing, to intriguing to pass up. He took a long drag from his tobacco pipe, letting the smoke pass from his lips in something of a puff. The stylized tobacco pipe was the focus of Angie's attention as she smiled, surprised that in all this time, he was still using that thing.

Angie began to walk towards the kitchen table, trying her best to stay quiet in spite of the noisy linoleum flooring creaking below her feet. The creaky floor boards gave her away as Ray quickly spun around, smiling as soon as he noticed the young woman, her hair messy, her makeup slightly smudged, wearing _his_ flannel shirt. It was a sight to see. She smiled back at him, giving him a bit of a wink as she sauntered beside of him. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands following something of a muscle memory as they snaked their way around her waist before she kissed him on his chapped lips. She moaned against his lips, melting into the kiss. Even after this long absence, after the fights, he still had this effect on her to make her melt in an instant.

Reluctantly she pulled away, sighing deeply as she leaned her forehead on his. Ray subconsciously gnawed on his bottom lip as she looked into his dark brown eyes, causing something of an uproar in him. Angie broke the silence, sighing contently once more before whispering out the words. "I can't believe you still have that thing."

Ray's brows creased, thinking what the hell she was talking about when the strong smell of tobacco burning jogged his memory. Sitting on the table, right beside of the disappointing goo, was a dark wood stained tobacco pipe, the embers still burning in the bowl as smoke bellowed out.  
"I would have thought you'd thrown it out when we broke up."  
"It was a nice gift." Ray reasoned, picking up the piece from the table.  
"My timing was seriously off."  
"How could you've known I was trying to quit?" Ray asked as he took a drag from the Sherlock Holmes-ian pipe. Smoke bellowed out from between his lips as his mind was drawn once again to the goo, now sitting contently in both a Mason jar and 50 milliliter beaker respectively. Different theories running around in his head, he didn't notice Angie's second long glance at the living room.

Peter, Egon and Winston had passed out in the living room. Sprawled out over the couches, chairs and even parts of the coffee table, the three of them tried their best to sleep under the circumstances. Peter had taken up part of the couch, his leg thrown over the arm of the chair as he clutched a pillow close to his body, nuzzling closer as he stirred in his sleep. Egon reclined on the La-Z Boy recliner. His neck craned back on the head rest, he crossed his arms over his chest as it lifted and relaxed with every deep, nasally breath. Winston leaned over the arm of the couch next to Peter, resting his head on the arm rest in an uncomfortable position. He groaned deeply against his lips as he shifted, the pain in his neck too much to bare.

Suddenly, Peter jumped from his dream like state, holding on to the environment around him as his he was going to fall through the floor. Wide-eyed from his near brush with death, Peter looked around the common room, his thinning hair flipped over as stood on end, adding a couple inches to his all ready tall frame. His eyes wondered around the almost quiet common room before they landed on Ray and the half-naked Angie as they were caught in an embrace. Following down Angie's silhouette, his eyebrow raised at the sight of her toned legs. A sly smirk crept along his face before Ray sent him a silent glare from the safety of Angie's arms.

"Morning." Peter said, trying to fake-casualty, ignoring that his friend was in a loving embrace with his arch nemesis. "You two have fun?"  
"A blast." Angie said with a smirk, hands on her curvy hips.  
"Sorry I missed it." Peter said, his cynical expression turning to one of humor as his smirk turned to a full-grown smile, for a moment shocking Angie's system. His pushed himself up off the couch, peeling himself from the warm and oh-so comfy couch as he stood completely still. Like a baby giraffe just learning to walk, Peter took a few steps forward, trying his hardest to regain his balance before grabbing onto the end of the couch for stabilization.

"Aye, Egon!" Peter shouted at the scientist in the La-Z boy recliner, watching as he didn't move a muscle. Taking matters into his own hands, Peter grabbed a pillow from the couch, fresh with his own drool on the corner and chucked it at Egon's head. The fluffy pillow bounced off of his head, crushing his glasses onto his face as he awoke with a growl. Egon sat up straight in the chair, sliding the back of the chair up quickly as he blinked a couple times to prove he was really awake. Egon followed Peter's path of once awake, finding exactly where he was and why someone was waking him up. His cheeks blushed as he noticed Angie in the kitchen wearing only Ray's flannel shirt from the night before. His eyes darted to the ground and stayed there as he stood up from his recliner post-haste.

Winston groaned once more, noting the extra noise in the common room than before. He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of Peter and Egon trying to wake up and go back to the shared bedroom. He didn't even seem to notice, or even think it was that strange seeing Angie and Ray together – he'd kind of figured it would happen again. Old feelings creeping back up again, it was only a matter of time until they were doing it like rabbits.

Winston followed behind Peter and Egon in a sleep-deprived haze, following the sound of their feet and the shift shapes that crossed his view as he shuffled his feet back to the dorm, waiting on baited breath to climb back into his bed and fall asleep again. He shuffled into the dorm room, closing the door behind him with a satisfying thud.

Angie and Ray waited for only a moment, waiting until the groans coming from the dorm room turned into the sweet song of deep snoring before they resumed what they were doing. Angie smiling softly against her lips as he arms sneaked their way around Ray's neck once more, pulling him closer for a kiss.

Their sweet moment was crushed by the slimes bubbling along with their merriment. The two of them pulled away as they eyed the pink goop, waiting for a sweet moment to ruin. A sigh escaped from Ray's lips as Angie reluctantly moved away from his warmth, opting for the cold chair beside of him. She hissed loudly of the cold wood on the soft skin of her thighs as she eased on the chair next to him. Ray watched, trying his hardest not to laugh at her reaction to the cold before getting back to the task at hand: the Slime.

Now, of course, it decided to lie quietly. The stagnate slime stayed perfectly still in its contained state, in both the beaker and the Mason jar. Ray narrowed his eyes at the suspicious slime, having never come in contact with anything like it before. It would be great if they had found something like this while investigating hundred years ago, it seemed; but they had nothing to go off of.

The 'slime' that Peter had been hit with by Slimer was nothing – a Class I supernatural phenomena. He had no after effects, besides being completely pissed off at the little onion-head. No ghosts tried to exit the slime; it didn't bubble when he got angry, or even react to his emotional state. No, what this pink goo was was something they had never seen before.

They had looked at everything, all of the data on goo that they could find. Nothing in the Tobin Spirit Guide, the Spates Catalog, and even the Occult Reference-Net – nothing that could be connected to the slime. Ray's eyebrow raised as a new theory popped into his head. Nothing had shown up in the references because they were looking for the wrong thing. Simply slime wasn't going to make any waves in the literary community, but Psychomagnotheric slime might!

Without warning, Ray jumped from his seat, pushing the wooden chair back as it screeched along the wooden floor before making his way to the counter. He searched franticly; looking under paper plates, behind cereal boxes, even in the freezer for no good reason other than he hadn't looked there before.

Finally he found it, two hardcover books, each about the size of phone books hiding under a box of week old pizza. Angie turned her nose up at the mess of the kitchen. "What does Kitty even do here?" She remarked, her soft features twisting in disgust.

Ray smiled as he held the 600-page books close to his chest with one hand, and grabbed Angie's hand with the other, pulling the two of the towards the couch. With a terribly loud thud, Ray silently cursed himself as the books hit the coffee table, the loud sound possibly waking up the fellow Ghostbusters. He was relieved when he didn't hear anything after, no groans, no cursing, and no threats on his life.

Angie plopped beside Ray, bouncing on the aging couch as she watched him with his childlike enthusiasm. Ray finally sat down, pulling the heavy and excessively wordy hardback of Tobin's Spirit guide into his lap. They had learned after the first couple copies of this book ripping and tearing too easily under the 'normal' wear of the book, that they might as well had gotten a hardback.

Before diving head first into the book, burying himself in the book's linen pages, Ray paused, holding the front cover in his hands. With a heavy sigh, Ray looked over his shoulder at Angie, her dark eyes questioning him. "I have an idea, but I need to do a lot of research on this first." He started. "If you want to go home, you can. I understand."

Angie, ever the defiant one, smiled before leaning towards the coffee table, grunting as she picked up the other hardcopy. The cover read Spates Catalog, embossed in the ancient cracked leather. Angie lightly ran her finger tip over one of the major cracks, feeling the rough texture on her finger tip before she flipped open the first couple pages, diving into a night of pure research.

Ray smiled before starting on his own book, flipping passed the Table of Contents and Author's Notes to get to the occult stuff. The homey smell, known to many as 'old book smell' filled the common room, causing something of a permanent smile on his face as he read a little bit of the Guide. The smile only grew when he felt Angie's head lean on his shoulder as she flipped through the pages, skimming over the walls of text to find simple key words that would help this night go some much faster.

Soon the skimming seemed to slow, crawling at a snail's pace before pausing all together, information of case file on a Ultradimentional Swarmer exposed to light as Ray heard soft snoring on his shoulder.

Angie's eyes closed as she fell asleep, resting her tired head on his shoulder. He felt his heart beat up into his chest as he felt her moan against him, nuzzling closer to him. He glanced down at her as she cuddled closer to him.

This beautiful young woman, clad only in his flannel shirt, with Spates Catalog across her lap was a sight. It made him ache, thinking of all this time he'd missed with her; but made him thankful that she was back in his life.

It wasn't long before the scientist grew weary himself, promising himself to only close his eyes for a few seconds before drifting off to sleep himself.

* * *

Here is a little fluff from Ray and Angie.  
Happy holidays!  
Hope you enjoyed it.

~pure.


	9. Mood Slime

I do not own Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, any Ghostbusters video games or even a proton pack.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed and Remy Safar.

* * *

"We've been experimenting on the plasm we found in the subway tunnel." Ray explained, watching closely as Egon pulled a Tupperware dish out of the microwave, the pink slime that had been possessing their thoughts lying dormant in the plastic. Ray had called in the entire team, stopping the booming production of the Ghostbusters team for an afternoon as Ray and Egon could barely contain their excitement. They even brought Kitty and Angie to the lab to show them, as they were part of the team as anyone else.

"Should I get spoons?" Peter remarked, as Egon carefully moved the slime from inside the microwave to the middle of the lab table, the slime didn't even ripple in the transaction. Egon scoffed softly against his lips before saying "Don't bother. Watch this." Egon placed the Tupperware on the table, wide eyed and bushy tailed as he gave Ray a nod, almost permission to do something. "Go ahead, Ray."

Ray took a deep breath, mentally prepping himself before he unleashed a barrage of insults towards the plasm.

"You! You worthless piece of slime!" Ray shouted, earning a soft bubble from inside the plastic container. Angie and Kitty looked to each other in disbelief. "You ignorant, disgusting blob!"  
"You're nothing but an unstable, short-chain molecule!" Egon shouted at the slime, giving it Egon's idea of an insult. Ray on the other hand, seemed oddly at home with the idea of the verbal abuse.

"You foul, obnoxious mob!"  
"You have a weak electrochemical bond!" The slime bubbled in delight.  
"I have seen some disgusting crud in my time, but **you **take the cake-!" Ray shouted, and would have kept shouting far into the night if Winston hadn't had silenced him, putting his hand on Ray's shoulder, bringing the mad scientist back to reality.

"This is what you do with your spare time." Peter said, rather unimpressed.

Ray scoffed, shaking his head to himself. This was a huge discovery and Peter just wasn't getting it. Though, he could see through the crowd that had accumulated around the table, Angie was just as excited as he was, that glint in her eyes back.

"Peter, this is an incredible breakthrough. I mean, what a discovery! A psycho reactive substance!" Ray's excitement radiated from him, almost infectious. Peter didn't pay any mind to the infectious excitement as he messed with the slime a little more, popping some of the bubbles with a quick blast of air as he blew on the slime.

"Whatever this stuff is, it responds to human emotional states."

Peter's ears perked at the words, though his mind had learned to put things into layman's terms while around Ray and Egon.

"Moon slime." Peter stated, nodded his head as if to convince himself that's what it was. His eyes turned down towards the pink slime as he whispered softly to the slime, as a scientist, to get it's reaction. "Oh, baby..."

It bubbled it distaste.

Winston shook his head back and forth, trying to wrap his brain around the idea. "You mean this stuff actually feeds on bad vibes."  
"Like a cop in a doughnut factory."

Peter couldn't quit messing with the slime, from a far as Egon tried to stay on point. "We've been running tests to see it we can get an equally strong positive reaction."  
"What kind of tests?" Peter asked, suddenly interested in their work. Ray looked down at the table, embarrassed at what they had done to not only get a reaction out of the slime, but to then find out what it could do after ward. It wasn't a pretty list.

"Well, we - uh, sing to it, and we talk to it, and say supportive, nurturing things to it..." Ray trailed off, still not looking anyone in the eyes. Angie turned a bright shade of red, thanking her lucky stars that he didn't say anything else that they did to get a rise out of the slime.

"You're not sleeping with it, are you, Ray?" Peter asked, hopefully as a joke.

Angie couldn't help herself as she coughed loudly, the sudden bluntness of Peter's question shouldn't be a surprise, but at the time she just wasn't ready for it. Peter turned around to face Angie, that stupid, sly smile spread thin across this lips. "Oh, you!" He said, watching as Angie's blush deepen on her pale cheeks. Curiosity getting the better of him, he turned back around to Ray, watching as the color in his faced matched Angie's pigment for pigment.

Egon looked anywhere but at the guys. He silently thanked Angie for bringing the attention of her so Peter wouldn't have a chance to ride into him about certain _liberties_ had took to get some sort of reaction from the plasm.

Peter couldn't believe it himself, or seemed like it as he continued to tease the two of them fro getting back together. "You hounds! You kids have been doing this under _my_ roof the entire time?"  
"The lease is in my name-"  
"How long has this been going on? Will we see any little Stantz' running around here?"

Egon cleared his throat, hoping to get back on track and to save Ray and Angie a little bit of confidentiality as they both flushed a brilliant shade of red.

"How about the kinetic test?" Egon suggested, trying his best to pull Peter's blood lust from the new couple. Though distracted, Peter wouldn't let this go for a long time. From behind, next to the microwave in the kitchen next to the microwave, Egon pulled their used, worn out toaster that they had had for years. Nothing special in the least about the tin contraption..

"Ordinary household toaster" Egon announced, placing the unplugged machine on the table in front of them.  
"I'll take your word for that."  
Ray grabbed a small spoon, dipping it in the warmed mixture. Slowly he poured the liquid in the slot of one of the containers on the toaster, effectively coating the bottom of the appliance.

Egon grabbed it, his wide, childlike smile across his face as he brought the toaster to the middle of the pool table

"It responds to music, so we've been doing some experimentation. Playing easy listen. Middle-of-the-road type stuff. You know, Paul Young, Dust In The Wind, that works okay."  
"Works for me."  
Egon rushed to the side, pulling up a small cassette player as he looked to the five of them standing around the pool table, waiting for the next test. Egon smiled wide. "It loves Jackie Wilson."

Turning the nob on the cassette player, Jackie Wilson's high pitched voice echoed in the firehouse, signing the song "Higher and Higher"  
Kitty bit her bottom lip as the toaster didn't do anything.

"Sheesh! You guys do this at night when I'm not here? Oh, I get it, it sings! It sound exactly like Jackie, fantastic."  
"Just watch."  
"Does it do Emmy Lou Harris-?"

The toaster jumped.

"Oh, it dances too."

The toaster bounced and popped it's way across the pool table, lifting the mood in the firehouse as they watched in pure joy. The slime had finally reacted, and they figured it out!Soon, Angie joined in on the festivities, swinging her hips back and forth with a grin planted firmly on her lips.

Even Egon's head bobbed as the restless nights experimenting with the damned plasm finally paid off in the most entertaining way.

In a spectacular finish, the toaster popped sending two pieces of golden toast high into the air for something of a grand finale. Peter oo'ed and ahh'ed over the toaster, seeing nothing but dollar signs in his eyes as he grabbed the toaster, pulling it closer by the plug.

"Oh! Oh, oh baby, oh!" Peter cooed, cuddling with the ordinary household toaster. "You're my number one Christmas boutique gift item!"

"Right, and the first time somebody gets mad the toaster could eat their hand." Winston remarked, rolling his eyes and washing his hands with the idea. Egon turned off the radio as Peter continued cuddling with his new business venture.

"No, no, no, no, we put a warning label on it, we don't have any liability – AGGH!" Peter howled in pain as his fingers were latched in slots. Winston was right in a way, the toaster was trying to to eat Venkman!

The five of them reacted immediately, all lurching forward to help there friend in distress when Peter couldn't hold it any longer, breaking out in laughter.

"Oh! Oh, did you ever go for it." Peter teased, pulling his two fingers free form the imaginary grasp of the man-eating toaster. "The old man-eating toaster gag!" He cackled, mock poking Egon in the eyes with his 'eaten' fingers.

"GET HIM!" Ray shouted, grabbing Peter's arms and restraining him as the boys attacked, leaving the girls to shake their heads in the distance.

* * *

With the boys done fighting upstairs, Angie and Kitty made there way down the large stair case to the main garage, weary of the creaky floorboards that would give their position away. There were times when the boys acted professional, white-collar even scholarly at time. Then others, like earlier when Peter was rightfully attacked, they acted like boys, brothers, family. They would never want to hear such things, but it was true in the light in which they regarded each other. A simply colleague would never make fun of Angie and Ray for their newly-resurrected relationship – however a brother or a meddling brother would do just that.

Angie and Kitty made their way down the stairs, Kitty was the first to talk. "So, when where you going to tell me about you and Ray?" She asked, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. Angie was at first glance taken back by the question, but knew it was due. "I was going to tell you tonight over dinner."  
"You're working tonight."  
"Oh, right."

Kitty sighed, leaning her body against the railing to the staircase with her arms crossed over her knitted sweater. She didn't like it, being kept in the dark. She was glad that Ray and her where back together, but the silently wished she'd at least known about it. Even more, she hated to think about if they were to break up again.

Angie was a wreck after Ray left. She had lost her job earlier in the week, her boyfriend next and their father the week after. Angus T. Reed died a week after Ray had left, tearing the two girls apart at the seams. They both loved their father deeply and killed them to have to put the man that they loved in the ground. He supported their idea to move to New York in the first place, urging them to go out and see the world before they had grown. He always talked about coming up to see them in the apartment, and then the new apartment. You could hear over the muffled speaker of the phone receiver that he smiled when ever the girls called him. When Angie told him about Ray, he did the fatherly thing and threaten his very life._ 'You tell that Ray if he hurts you in anyway, I'm coming up __from Maryland to kick his ass.'_ He would joke, earning a nervous laugh from Angie. The joke, however funny, seemed to have a strand of truth in it and Angie could easily see her father making the three hour drive just to knock some sense into him.

Kitty's thoughts where pulled from her as the boys came down the staircase, Winston took the stairs two by two, being the first one to great the girls. Angie smiled brightly at Winston's enthusiasm as he made his way to Janine's desk, getting the spreadsheet on today's cases. Peter slumped behind trying to fix his hair after the mauling by the wild group of scientists... and Winston.

"You guys don't get it, I have this slacker-chic thing going on here." Peter complained, rubbing the thinning part of his hair, trying to get it to whirl the right direction. "You know how long it takes me to do my hair?"

"Probably longer then it takes me to do mine." Angie remarked as Egon made his way passed the girls, following Winston to Janine's desk. Peter didn't shoot dangers from his eyes as expected, instead he took the offensive. "Nah. All you have to do is stick your finger in a light socket and your done!" Peter exclaimed, referencing her curly and at-times frizzy hair. It was the cold weather, she usually defended.

Peter finally made it down the staircase, stopping in front of the fore mentioned sister. Crossing his arms over his chest, he eyed the woman up and down unimpressed at the choice of women Ray had. Apparently, he only had one type. Poor guy.

"Now, little missy." Peter said, wagging his finger in Angie's thoroughly unimpressed face. "If you hurt my friend, I will seriously mess you up."  
"That's funny, Venkman."  
"I mean it." He said, his voice lowering to almost a whisper. If Angie didn't know any better, she would have sworn she heard an ounce of seriousness in his voice. "Last time you guys broke up, it crushed him. If you're going to do this again, just don't hurt him. His fragile enough as it is." Peter said, ending the seriousness as Ray came bouncing down the steps behind him. Peter quickly jumped back to being the clown once more as he wagged his finger in Angie's face again.

"I mean look at him. Behind the book smarts and pizzas boxes, he's a broken man!"  
"Thanks, man." Ray said, slapping his friend on the back.  
"Anytime." Peter said, sending Angie a wink before joining the others in groaning over the length of the work sheet. Thoughts circled about Peter's end game as she shook her head at him, watching carefully as he turned back into the fun loving, joking Peter. The serious, protective Peter wasn't fun. He was scary. She didn't like it.

Ray just shook his head at Peter's antics before focusing on Angie, the two of them out in the open. He just smiled at her, his thin lips curling into the smile she knew all too well. Angie looked around, making sure the others were busy looking at the work sheet for today before stealing a kiss from Ray. She meant for it to be a simple peck on the lips, but he lingered. He wasn't supposed to linger.

Pulling away from the intoxicating kiss, they both heard to over romanticized sigh of a one Peter Venkman as he grasped his hands together over his heart, playfully batting his thin eyelashes at the two of them. "I just love to see you two love birds together." Peter sighed, trying his hardest at a southern draw and failing.

Ray rolled his eyes at Peter, ignoring the fact that Angie was still in his arms for the most part. A light flush appeared on his cheeks as the others began to get ready for the work day ahead, starting with changing into the jumpsuits. Angie leaded her forehead against his, still smiling from the kiss.

"Are you working tonight?" Ray asked, licking his lips out of habit. Sorrowfully, she nodded as best she could against his forehead. "We've got a huge wedding tonight. Some rumors are spreading that it's a big mob bosses daughter, but no one will say who."  
"Sounds like fun."  
"You'd think so. I'm just worried I might accidentally spill a drink or something on the Don. Who knows what will happen?"  
"Sleeping with the fishes?"  
"God I hope not." Angie giggled lightly. Their touching moment was interrupted by the whining of the Ecto-One siren, which was much louder when your right next to the vehicle in a room that echos all ready. Angie turned around to Venkman in the drivers seat, glaring through the tinted glass as he wiggled his fingers at the new couple.

"Looks like I gotta go." Ray said, regretfully pulling away before walking to the passenger side. With a high pitched squeak, the passenger door opened, reminding Ray to put that on the To-Do list. Before the door even opened fully, his jumpsuit came flying from the cab. The once clean and pressed jumpsuit now laid on the dirty shop floor in a rolled up ball that Peter had thrown at him. "Put it on, we gotta go to Queens!" Peter sounded from inside the cab over the dying engine.

Ray shook his head before climbing into the passenger seat, opting to put on the suit once they got down the road. The only thing scarier than Ray's driving was Peter's driving. Peter didn't know that the breaks where there for all cars, not just other ones on the road. Once the siren blared and the lights flashed, Peter flew out of there like a bat out of hell, leaving the girls behind in the dust.

Ray just hoped that Peter knew how to even get to Queens.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it.

~pure.


	10. Silence in the Firehouse

I don't own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

Kitty enjoyed the silence this late at night. When everyone went home, the computers and phone put away for the day, the Echo-One tucked away under a canvas car-cover to protect it's new paint job from dust, the lights out along the office space, besides the red "EXIT" sign that hung over the garage door in case of emergency – it was when Kitty was at ease. To see the extreme contrast in day and night in the Firehouse was in creditable. The hustle and bustle of the office / garage was too energized, too much going on at one time. But when you saw the office /garage at night, it became eerie, spooky almost.

Kitty's job was not over, not by a long shot. Just that afternoon, after days of straight cleaning, she'd finally made it to the first floor. The dust in common room was disgusting, how they all didn't die from suffocation from the massive dust bunnies was beyond her. But, just earlier today at 1:40 PM she'd made it down the long stair case and began to work on the first floor. As bad as the second floor was and as much as she dreaded working on the office, she the thought of cleaning the basement sent chills down her spine.

The bright red "EXIT" sign over the door gave Kitty only a sense of the objects in the room, giving the amorphous shapes a bit of a red outline, helping her navigate through the minefield of scientist's toys.

Slowly, she began to make her way through the firehouse, squeezing passed the Echo-one as it lead her to the Exit door. Her hands guided her across the body of the car, the rough canvas brushing against her finger tips as she slowly made her way back to the large garage door.

Under the muffled tones of the streets outside, she could hear cluttering upstairs. It sounded like something in the lab, messing around and moving. Kitty's brows furrowed when she racked her brain over who could possibly be here still. Janine and Louis left early, Louis wanted to get out as quickly as possible after his encounter with Slimer the other day, leaving quiet a bit earlier than normal and only after Janine promised to walk him home. Paranoid.

Peter left earlier than Louis even, saying that he was going to head to the Manhattan Museum of Art. After a quick change of clothes and a fresh spritz of a nameless cologne that gave Kitty a headache, Peter was off to go bug Dana at her place of work.

After, slowly the boys went home. Winston left to take a long subway ride back home, Angie around noon and Egon and Ray could not possibly still be up there.

Another bump upstairs rang out as Kitty groaned, the boys were still here.

Weary of the creaking floorboards on the stairs, Kitty walked up the staircase, following the light as it got brighter and brighter with each step closer. Kitty could hear the beginnings of a scary movie, the violin playing speeds up and gets louder; the audience at home is shouting 'Don't go up the stairs! The ax wielding murderer is up there!' Rounding the railing of the stair case, Kitty peeked her head around to watch carefully. The boys weren't aware she'd climbed the staircase yet or that she was even still in the firehouse.

Egon was busy with a container strapped over his shoulder, tinkering with the wires or bolts on the canister while Ray was busy with... something else…

Ray, for some reason still left unknown, had an EEG cap on his head, the different sensors and wires protruding from it linked right up with the slime in the litre sized beaker on the table. Ray's eyes were closed as he sat next to the slime, his hands on his knees, his back straight, and not a single word escaped from his lips. Besides the metal-on-metal sound from Egon's tinkering, there was virtually no noise.

Kitty stood up from the crouching position on the stair case, resting her elbows on the wood railing as she watched them. Being crouched on the staircase hurt, as evidence from the oncoming Charlie-horse on her left calf muscle.

Egon looked over briefly, tearing himself away from his new toy as he looked towards the staircase. He almost didn't believe his eyes as he looked back to the staircase, again seeing the figure of Kitty on the stairs, poking her head over the railing and watching, humorously as Ray tried his experiment.

"Kitty." Egon said, nodding his head and breaking the silence in the laboratory.  
"Egon." Kitty nodded, pointing her thumb over at the comatose scientist propped up in the corner. "What's up with him?"

"He's testing a new experiment that suggest that the plasm may be influenced brain waves instead of sound waves, implementing it's not talking to the slime, but the thought behind it."  
"So it truly is the thought that counts." Kitty said, cringing as she heard her bad pun outside of her head. Egon tried not to laugh, only shaking his head before going back to silver canister.

Kitty looked at the silver canister in curiosity, slowly moving from behind the divide, she asked "What are you doing?"  
In no nonsense terms, Egon explained the best her could. "We believe that the slime could be positively charged, and possibly neutralize the negative slime. We're running some tests on it now." Ray hadn't moved, besides the rise and fall of his chest she wasn't even sure he was still alive.

"Do we need to be quieter around Ray?" Kitty asked, a little bit louder than she wanted. Without looking from his research, Egon shook his head. "No. He has ear plugs deep in his ears. He can't hear anything."

Ray's eyes opened wide, taking in the previously blocked out world around him before taking out each of his fore mentioned ear plugs from his ears; the strange cap still on his head. He shook his head, slightly pulling on the wires to the slime before he smiled at Kitty. "Hi!" He said, cheerfully despite his failed experiment. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't leave. I actually thought I was alone in here until _someone_ made a whole bunch of ratchet." Kitty said, pointing with her head at Egon as his shoulders lowered slightly. He didn't think he was making that much noise.

Ray just smiled, running his hand absently over his jaw. "Well, glad you're not all alone. This place can get kinda spooky after hours."

The phone rang in the corner. Ray's brows creased at the lateness of the call, but didn't think otherwise as it was 'just another day in the office'. He stood up off the couch, groaning at the pops in his back as he made his way over the ever-ringing phone.

"Hello?" Ray said, tucking the receiver under his ear.

"_Ray."_ Peter's voice rang from the receiver.  
"Hey."  
_"Yeah, Dana just came over to my place."_  
"Is she okay?"  
_"Well, actually, her bathtub tried to eat her."_

"What? Are you serious? That's great! - " Ray shouted before flinching. There had to be a better way to say that. " – I mean, that's terrible, but it's great for what we were… - Yeah, I will. Sure, we'll get right on it."

Ray hung up the phone quickly, his eyes a glow with the information in his head. "Spengler!" Ray exclaimed, ripping the wired cap from his head as he turned to Egon. "Major slime-related psychokinetic event."  
"What happened?" Egon said, looking up briefly from the container strapped over his shoulders.

"Something came out of Dana's bathtub, tried to grab her and the baby." Ray said, repeating Peter's words. Kitty's ears perked at the sound. "Are they alright?" She asked, suddenly finding herself in the middle of the investigation once again.

"Yeah, well, she got out of there and went over to Venkman's"  
"Most interesting, Ray." Egon said, slowly slipping into a curious stupor. "Remember that painting Venkman mentioned? Well, I ran the name 'Vigo the Carpathian' through the Occult Reference-Net." Egon typed, one handed, along the keyboard, bringing up the page on this Vigo guy. "Look what came up."

Ray and Kitty both looked over Egon's shoulder, spying over as they quickly skimmed over the page. Kitty winced at some of the things he was known for. How could on man be so evil?

"Ooh… Nice ugly history." Ray said, earning an enthusiastic nod from Kitty as she continued reading through, pressing the 'down' key on the keyboard to read more. "Think there's a connection between this Vigo character and the-" Ray paused, slowly looking over his shoulder at the pink goop on the table that his earlier his brain wave where trying to effect. It bubbled at the thought of being useful. "-Slime?"  
"Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9?" Egon asked as panic started to flood over Ray's features. "We'd better get over to Dana's apartment." In a fury, Ray rushed to the coat hanger in the corner held his gently-loved leather jacket, throwing off his lab coat and replacing it with the cold leather over his shoulders. "I'd like to check out the bathtub."

Egon followed, setting the heavy metal container on the wooden desk in front of him as he reached for his own jacket, throwing it over his shoulder. "It might be a good idea to go to the museum in the morning and get a look at that painting."  
"What do you want me to do?" Kitty asked, watching as their momentum slowly crawled to a stop. The boys hovered in the door way, thinking of a way to say 'go home' with out being too rude to the point she wouldn't come back. "Maybe you could stay here, do some more research on Vigo before we got to the museum in the morning." Egon suggested, looking to Ray for some help on the matter. Ray nodded his head. "That would actually help out a lot. If you don't mind, there are some books on that shelf-"  
"I know." Kitty said, turning the bookshelf, organized by subject with Astral Projection at the top and Zoroastrianism at the bottom.

Ray slowly nodded his head. "Right, forgot." He laughed lightly. "Well, since you know where everything is more than we do, if you don't mind doing some research before you go home. We'll pay you over time – or, Peter will pay you overtime." Ray said, adding a cliff note that Venkman wouldn't be happy with. "If you don't mind, that would really help."  
"'Course not." Kitty said, beaming a wide smile. "Now get over to Dana's! You're wasting both your own and my time." She scalded, teasingly waving the boys down the staircase. Egon and Ray began the descent down the staircase, shunned from their own lab. Accompanying the sound of heavy boots of creaking floorboards, Kitty heard as she was pulling one of the books from the bookshelf,  
"I'm glad Venkman hired her."  
"Me too."

Maybe she was useful after all, she mused, grinning from ear to ear as she pulled down a few heavy books from the bookshelf. If only Angie were here to help. She lives for this stuff, research and what not. Kitty thought that she could call and maybe get Angie to come over, but looking at the analog clock in the corner, the little hand on the three, she doubted Angie would be conscience, much less willing to help research.

With a tired sigh, Kitty sat down in the rolling office chair that Egon had seat up and placed the three heavy books on the rickety wooden desk, causing it to wobble slightly from the extra weight. She turned to the computer screen, reading more about the "Scourge of Carpathia" as he was 'lovingly' known.

His long and gruesome history was too much for Kitty to deal with all at once; she had to take breaks often to stop herself from becoming too depressed.

One of those breaks, Kitty and laid on the couch, resting her eyes for just a minute before a barrage of snores echoed through-out the firehouse.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it!  
Happy 2013 to all!

~pure.


	11. Don't Even Let Him Shave

I don't own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

The Ghostbusters siren awoke even the heaviest sleeper as it frantically rushed through the morning traffic of Manhattan. By now the other drivers on the road had learn to get out of the way once they heard the whine of the siren, exhibiting the same power over the masses as a police siren would. Kitty sat in the back seat with the rest of the Ghostbusters team as Ray drove through traffic, weaving in and out and around traffic to get to the museum on time. Kitty held on for her life in the backseat of the converted hearse, latching her thin fingers around the door handle to keep herself from sliding into Winston next to her or Egon and Remy across from her. She held on tightly to the door handle and her stomach as she felt the contents of breakfast creeping up the back of her throat.

Finally, with a smooth and easy stop, Ray pulled up in front of the massive building of the Manhattan Museum of Art. With creatures and cherubs around the building, it looked more like a piece of art itself, besides a place that held art.

Ray sighed heavily from the front seat, prepping himself for the investigation inside before addressing the crew in the back. "We're here!" He exclaimed before opening the door and climbing out of the Ecto-one. The rest of the team followed suit, climbing out one by one, before it was just Remy and Kitty in the back.

With no offense to Remy, Kitty just didn't feel good as her stomach felt jittery, like butterflies in the stomach but with a more devious meaning. She had began to clam up, her rosy complexion pale as she tried to prep herself much like how Ray had before exiting the car. Remy smiled sweetly, putting her hand on Kitty's knee to calm the girl. "It'll be okay." She said, pulling Kitty from her self deprecating thoughts. "I was nervous the first time I went out too."  
"This isn't my first time out." She confessed, distracting herself.  
"Oh?"  
"I've been out twice before."  
"Then you know how it goes, then." Remy reasoned, earning a scoff from Kitty's lips as she laughed.  
"Only this time there's no chance for me to be possessed or end up in jail." Kitty laughed, feeling the ache in her stomach shrink. Remy looked confused as she exited the Ecto-One, hoping more than anything to hear the rest of those at a later date.

Kitty had to man up now and face the music. How hard could it be?

With a reluctant sigh, Kitty pulled herself up and out of the back seat of the Ecto-One and on to the crowded landing of the museum. Venkman had shown up, his eyes bloodshot from a cranky Oscar that would _not_ go to sleep last night. Luckily, Dana and the baby get to sleep in while Venkman has to run down to the museum to check out this creepy painting. While Ray began to fill Venkman in on the Vigo character that had weirded out Dana, Peter's attention was drawn to more important things.

"Hello Kitty." Venkman said, carefully navigating himself around that pun. Kitty's eyes narrowed at him "What are you doing here? Didn't you get enough 'field work' last time?"  
"No." Kitty said. "It was cut short last time seeing as I was arrested."  
Peter smirked, it seemed her sisters quick wit was rubbing off of on her.  
"I'll try not to do that again."  
"My bail bondsman and my wallet would thank you." Kitty resorted, getting the final word before going to help Winston and Remy gather equipment for the investigation inside. From the corner of her eye, she saw Remy giving a thumbs up to her little spat with Venkman and winning.

Venkman redirected his attention back to Ray and more importantly Vigo. "Did you get anything on the painting?"  
Ray reached into the pocket on his jumpsuit and pulled out several lined notepaper scribbles on Vigo the Carpathian.  
"We did get something on that Vigo character to mention. Found it in Leon Zundiger's 'Magicians, Martyrs and Madmen. Dig that." Ray exclaimed before turning to the back of the Ecto-One. Winston helped Egon slide the proton pack over his shoulders before helping ray fill Peter in on all that the three of them had figured out the night before in an old-fashion all-nighter, something Ray nor Egon had done since college.

"Vigo the Carpathian. Born 1505, died 1610."  
"A hundred and five years old. He hung in there, didn't he?"  
"And he didn't die of old age, either." Ray piped in while Egon helped Remy with her own proton pack. "He was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered."  
"Ouch."

"I guess he wasn't too popular at the end." Winston said, grabbing an extra Giga meter and attaching it to his belt.  
"No, not exactly a man of the people." Egon said, handing Peter a piece of equipment he could handle, a camera. "Also known as Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torture, Vigo the Despised and Vigo the Unholy."  
"Wasn't he also Vigo the Butch?" Peter asked, looping the camera strap around the back of his head.  
"And dig this! There was a prophecy, just before his head died."

With a hefty thud, Winston closed the back of the Ecto-One, the car itself drawing in more gawkers than the boys (and girl) in grey. The small army of investigators walked towards the couple hundred year old building, ignoring the extra attention from the straights while Ray recited the last words of the vicious ruler.  
"His last words were: 'Death is but a door, time is but a window. I'll be back!'"

* * *

While largely unfazed by the crowd outside of the building, the group inside were much more impressionable. Heads turned, people stopped what they were doing and gawked at the six of them with their strange machines strapped around their bodies, while largely ignoring the fact that they stood in formation. Kitty didn't notice either until she looked down the line of Ghostbusters, their chests puffed up, hands on their hips – they looked like the paranormal Justice League! She could have sworn she heard trumpets going off in the background.

Peter's neck craned down the line, noticing the superhero feel they were giving off. "All right, suck in the guts, guys. We're the Ghostbusters." Though meant for the boys, Kitty also breathed in quickly, tucking her tummy in to hide the extra couple pounds she'd accumulated over the holiday. From the other side of the restoration room, they all heard a high-pitched squeak of a male's voice.

"Go! Go, please, go, you, Dr. Venkman!" The man immerged, waving his hands away and towards the exit, hoping for nothing more than to be left alone by Venkman and his crew. After what happened last time Dr. Venkman showed, up, Janosz wanted nothing to do with the Ghostbusters. The boys stood in shock at the 'warm' welcome as Ray leaned over to Peter. "Who's this wiggler?"  
"He's your, Ray. Sic 'em!" Peter growled. Ray looked concerned, but did his best at his new job: distraction.

"Hi, Ray Stantz from the Ghostbusters. How are you?" Ray said quickly, shaking the confused man's hand. "We're just doing a routine spook check." Quickly, Ray grabbed a small handheld meter from his belt and began waving it around the walls, the paintings, the people - anything to gain a baseline. Kitty followed behind Ray, keeping close at she didn't want to mess up her, count them, third time out with the boys. She really didn't want to get arrested again.

"Dr. Venkman! Dana is not here!" The little man said, throwing his arms in the air.  
"Yeah, we know that, Johnny." Peter was unimpressed, throwing his coat over the strange man's arm.  
"So why are you came?" 'Johnny's broken English was humorous to say the least. Kitty had to turn away to keep from laughing right at him. Poor guy.

Ray swung back around, following the energy pulses that the meter was recording back around to Peter, Janosz and Kitty. "Try and keep busy." Ray said quickly before following the pulses towards the opposite side of the room.

Moving quickly, Kitty grabbed a small EMF recorder and began waving it in the sky, following the motions of both Ray and Egon as they combed the room for valances. It was hitting a solid 14.5 – whatever that meant.

"We got a report there was a major creep in the area, we checked out list and you were right on the top." Peter teased, throwing his arm around Janosz's shoulders like an old pal. "Say, Johnny, where in the hell are you from, anyway?"  
"The Upper Vest Side…"  
Egon wondered back to Venkman and Janosz. "The whole room's extremely hot, Peter." Egon said before wondering off again, following closely to Ray and Kitty's trail as they all seemed to be pulled to one side of the restoration room. Winston groaned at the sight of the monstrous painting, cringing at the canvas.

"Whoa. That's one ugly dude."  
"Oh, that's Vigo! Mr. Vigo! Vigs! Would you look this way, please?" Peter asked the painting before he began snapping pictures of the tyrant.

Vigo the Carpathian stood up proud, his ruthless fists on his hips as he stared down the painter in the scene. His features distorted and twisted in a cruel fashion as he would be shown for hundreds of years to come, his wickedness upon his European features. Ray and Egon were both drawn to the painting by the Giga Meter, Kitty by her simple EMF meter, Winston by his own sight and Peter by the shrieking man at his side.

"No! No, please no! No! No, Dr. Venkman!" He shouted, making his way in between the Ghostbusters and the painting, using his body as a human shield. "No photographs, please! Slides are available in the gift shop." Tired of the little twerp, Winston grabbed on to his sweater and pulled him out of the way, earning a yelp from the poor guy as Peter could finally take an uninterrupted picture.

"Yeah, thanks. Thank you Winston." Peter said, before diving down the rabbit hole of his own mind.  
"All right, you know what, give me angry, will you, will you give me angry. You've had a bad day, you're cranky." Peter teased, snapping picture after picture of the painting.  
Vigo didn't move.  
"Good, ooh, angrier. Angrier! Ooh, I'm scared, you're scaring me, stop it." Peter snapped again.  
Again, Vigo didn't move.  
"Good… Good. Okay, walk for me, talk for me. Yeah!" Peter exclaimed, slowly slipping from reality into his own realm. Unbeknownst to him, so was Ray.

Ray waved the Giga Meter over the Moldovian tyrant, curious as to why someone would get the creeps from this crude painting. Sure his facial features weren't pleasant, and his eyes seemed to follow you when you moved about, but it was an artistic technique - Leonardo DaVinci did the same thing with the Mona Lisa. As creepy as it was on a psychological level, it couldn't account for the strange reading on the Giga Meters that both Ray and Egon were experiencing. Ray's curiosity got to the best of him, taking a quick look back as he could have sworn the paintings eyes flashed red for a moment. While Peter's taunts faded into the background, the sounds of sorrow, pain and tragedy filled his ears.  
Once more, Ray had gone bye-bye.

"_Okay, give me hot and sexy. Can you do it? You can. Oh, boy. Show me some teeth. Come on." _Peter teased, moving around and taking more and more pictures.  
_"Do the girls like you? Huh? The girls? Do the guys? I bet they both do. How about the animals? They like you?" _Peter asked as he continued to snap away.

Ray's arm went limp, falling to his waist as Vigo's eyes turned crimson red for a moment, filling him with pure dread and hatred. He knew he should look away, but her couldn't. He was to stand there for the rest of his life, feeling the pain that this monster had so enjoyed dealing out in his life time.

"All right. More. That's right, you're big. You're big. Yeah! All right, destroy me!" Peter began shouting at the painting, getting more intense with each photo. "Destroy me! Destroy me!" Peter shouted until he was silenced by Egon putting his hand on Peter's shoulder. He snapped back to reality, turning to Egon in all seriousness. "Venkman. We need to talk."

Turning back to the painting, Peter smirked as he addressed the Moldavian hunk one last time. "I've worked with better, but not many. Thank you."

He spun on his heel, turning completely around as he followed Egon out of the restoration room, but not before grabbing his coat from Janosz's arms as he stood in disbelief. Venkman had come to his place of work and in a matter of seconds turned his work upside down, only to leave again. If Venkman showed up anymore, the poor man would have a heart attack.

Winston and Kitty hung back, in their own state of disbelief on Venkman's part. What in the hell did Dana see in that man? While Kitty and Winston pondered the question, they both noticed one less Ghostbuster on his way out. Ray still hung in front of the painting, his arm limp as his jaw hung wide open. Winston's brows creased as he approached Ray, who hadn't stopped looking at the painting since they got here. "Hey, hey?" Winston said, smacking Ray's droopy arm a couple times, waking the scientist from the trance. "You finished?"  
Ray sniffed loudly, nodding mostly to himself. "Yeah, I'm finished." He seemed out of it, Kitty noted as he climbed down the ladder.

"Are you all right?" Winston asked, watching carefully as Ray put his Giga Meter in his jumpsuit pocket.  
"What?"  
"I mean, you're not coming down with something?"

Ray smacked his chest with his open palm before asking "Me?" As if to show how healthy he was. It was preposterous that he'd get sick. Ray had never been sick in his entire life, but Kitty could tell something was off. His demeanor, his actions, even the way he walked was different. Winston seemed to notice too, sharing the same look of concern as they exited the building.

* * *

Wrapping himself tighter in his coat, Peter shivered as he and Egon made their way back to the Ecto-One. Following close behind was Remy as she looked over a few confiscated brochures, then Ray, Winston and Kitty picking up the rear. Ray had been acting strange, and was strange still as they approached the Ecto-One, stopping just shy of the side walk.

"There's definitely something going on in that studio. The PKE levels were max-plus and the Giga-meter was showing all red." Egon said, resting his over his chest.  
"I'd put my money on that Vigo character." Winston said as Peter took the retro camera and tossed it Winston's way.  
"Yeah, that's a safe bet." Peter said as Winston fumbled with the camera on top of all of the other equipment the poor man had to carry. Peter turned to Ray, whose pupils hadn't quiet dilated yet. "You and Spengman see what else you can dig up on Vigo and this little weasel Poha. Those two were made for each other."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Kitty said, crossing her arms over her chest to keep herself from shivering. Peter nodded, fearing the same thought.

Ray climbed into the driver's seat; his fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly as he waited impatiently for the rest of the team to climb in. Cautiously the rest of them climbed into the Ecto-One, fearing the wrath of the tightly wound scientist. Of course, Winston thought as he sat in the hot-seat, up front with Stantz while the rest had the safety of the back seat.

Ray became twitchy, tense about everything and very angry at the drop of a hat. Serving in and around traffic more than normal, he laid down on the horn, blaring it at a slower driver. "Idiot!" He shouted, exhibiting the worst sudden road-rage Kitty had ever seen. Ray groaned loudly as another car got in his way. The new engine roared as he pushed hard on the gas, passing the other driver quickly, causing him to over correct to stop from careening into another car in afternoon New York traffic.

Peter's eyes widened, silently questioning Ray's sanity at roughly the same time as the rest of them. Kitty stomach ache came back with a vengeance as Remy began to feel the same uneasiness that she was experiencing, though this time they knew why. Egon held on tightly to the seat, his knuckles white from the extreme grip as Ray served quickly around a corner. Kitty noted Egon's uneasiness and grabbed his hand, squeezing it to let him know that they were all pretty nervous over Ray's antics.

Winston grabbed onto the dashboard, bracing himself for the wreck he knew was coming as he looked to Ray. "Going a little fast, aren't we Ray?"  
Ray's eyes narrowed at Winston, taking his focus away from the ever changing traffic. "Are you telling me how to drive?" Ray snapped.  
"No, I just thought—"  
"Well don't think!" Ray shouted over the sound of the engine roaring once more as he pushed hard against the accelerator. Blowing through a red light, people jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by the converted white hearse-ambulance combo, the neon sign on the side stating they were _"READY TO BELIEVE YOU!"_

The Ecto-one bounced around the pot-hole ridden street, slinging the occupants around in the cab from once side to another. Kitty closed her eyes; praying that this ride from hell would be over with and that they'd all make it out in one piece.

Winston wrapped his wrist through to safety straps in the cab, thanking his lucky stars that they had been installed in the first place before looking over to the wide-eyed and drooling Stantz as he leaned forward, hunched over the steering wheel with a blank expression on his face.  
"Are you crazy, man?" Winston shouted over the revving engine, the bouncing equipment and the shrieks of the innocent people outside on the street. "You're going to kill somebody!"

Ray's neck craned over, his wide eyes blank as his chapped lips split into an ear-to-ear smile. Without a hint of emotion or remorse or recognition of what he was saying, Ray simply stated, "No, I'm going to kill _everybody_."

The Ecto-One served once more, this time heading straight for a large tree on the side of the road. Not once did Ray's expression change as he turned back to face the windshield, staring head on to what would certainly be their doom. Kitty shielded her eyes in Egon's shoulder, waiting for the inevitable impact.

Without some much time to even blink, Winston threw a wicked punch to the side of Ray's face, knocking him away from the wheel before Winston took control. He tried to steer away from the tree, his size 12 foot mashing on the brake peddle as the Ecto-One skidded sideways into the tree. The six of them shook from the impact, but not nearly as much as they were all bracing for.

The traffic moved around the wreck, horns honking at the idiot for not missing the tree, but compared to what almost happened, they'd take a little verbal abuse.

Kitty checked quickly to make sure everyone was okay. Checking for blood, bumps or any limbs that were bending in a ways it shouldn't. They were all relatively okay, given the circumstances.

They began to make their way out of the car, moaning and groaning at pains that would definitely hurt in the morning. "You okay?"  
"Yeah, are you?"  
"I'm okay, how about you guys?"  
"I'm good. You?"  
"Pretty good."  
"I'm okay."  
"Good."

Ray finally emerged from the wreck, his wide eyed expression drastically different then just a few moments ago when he admitted to attempted vehicular homicide. He stumbled out of the driver's side, looking around at the world behind him as if he had no memory of what had just happened. Ray grabbed the right side of his face; the area that Winston had hit him was beginning to swell up quickly as he looked around.

"What happened?" Ray asked his voice light and dreamy as if he'd just woken up from a nap.  
"You just picked up three penalty points on your driver's license." Peter remarked, rubbing the sore spot on his neck from where he'd experienced whiplash. Winston patted Ray on the back, hoping to snap Ray back to reality. "Are you alright?"

Ray nodded, slowly rotating his shoulder cuff in a circle. "Yeah, I guess so. It was the strangest thing. I knew what I was doing but I couldn't stop. This really terrible feeling came over me and – I don't know – I just felt like driving into that tree and ending it all. Whew! Sorry, boys." Winston nodded, patting Ray on the back once more before the two of them went to inspect the damage to the car.

Peter grabbed onto Kitty's sleeve, pulling her away from the wreck causing Egon to follow out sheer curiosity. "Watch him. Don't even let him shave." Peter warned, earning a nod from the two of them before rejoining the group.  
If Ray didn't look suicidal before, he sure did now as he looked crumbled body of the Ecto-One, after he'd just spent the last few weeks trying to fix it up. It was gone, the hard work, the time, the effort, the money – gone! His jaw dropped as he tried to tally up how much money it was gonna be to fix this.

Peter spun on his heel, facing back to the heavy traffic as his arm reached for the sky. "Taxi!"

Kitty slowly made her way around the wreck, doing her best to not trip over the crumbled steel body before she stood beside Ray, who was still in shock. Ray simply shook his head as he covered his open mouth with his hand. She couldn't even begin to start with what she was thinking. Ray could have killed all of them, and she was powerless to stop him. What if something like that happens again? Would she stop him?

At the time present, she only thing she could think of was putting her arm around Ray's shoulders. She knew the feeling when you realize you didn't have control of your body, that something more powerful than you could taken over when ever it feels like. It's scary and it was something she would never wish on her worst enemy. Ray seemed to come back, slowly but surely beginning about to form words from his jumbled thoughts.  
"Don't tell Angie." He said from behind his hand, muffling the sound of his words but not the power behind them.

"What?"  
"Don't tell Angie." He repeated. "I don't want her to get worried and if she finds out that this happened and that I almost -… Just, don't tell her, okay? I will tell her, but just not right now."  
Kitty nodded her head, understanding Ray's cause for concern. Though she didn't show it, Angie was a worry wart. Constantly worried about everyone but herself, Angie would just not let things go – this would be no exception. Kitty nodded, agreeing to his request. But soon Angie would find out. If not by Ray then through some other way, she was sure of it. Kitty only prayed that she wasn't the one who spilled the beans.

* * *

~pure.


	12. All New Cheap Moves

I don't own Ghostbusters, the movie, games, or any of the toys.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

New York was a buzz with the anticipation for the New Year. From setting up Times Square for the inevitable party tomorrow night or just getting enough booze to last through 1989, the streets were alive with certain energy; one could only describe it as New York itself. From the streets below, Venkman climbed the staircase leading to his apartment, waiting with baited breath until he could see Dana and little Oscar once more. With the scare Ray had given him earlier in the day, he wanted nothing then to sit down and rest before Ray decided to kill them all again, which was this rate was any minute now.

With a crudely packed suitcase and a small bouquet of sweet flowers, Peter opened the door to his bachelor pad, expecting a little more fan-fair when he swung the door open. "Dana! Your prince!" He called out into the empty studio apartment, earning nothing more than silence back as a reply. His eyes darted around the cluttered flat, moving from one corner to another as his shoulders dropped. The corners full with random sporting equipment he hadn't looked at in years, the walls lined with the headlines from "USA Today" and "Times" magazine from five years ago, Egon, Ray, and Peter's faces all displayed as the head line "WHO YOU GONNA CALL?" was printed proudly above them.

That was before the city sued them, before Dana broke up with him. Even before Stay Puft. The pictures had faded into the background now, as Peter looked franticly around the apartment, searching for something or someone.

"Oh no." He sighed, wondering from the kitchen area to the living room, to the den and back to the kitchen with a lost look on his face. "Oh no." He groaned, looking around at his aging hard wood floor.

"She cleaned."

From behind him, he could hear the sound of the bedroom door open and closing softly before a gentle voice said "Hi."

He spun around on his heel as Dana made her way from the bedroom. All ready making herself at home, she'd stripped from her clothes from the previous night and had a shower already, as evidence from her flushed complexion and the towel around her chest. Her curly hair was fallen into wet ringlets as drops of water splashed on her shoulders. Peter smiled at the sight.

"Hi." He replied, apparently louder then he thought as Dana shushed him, putting her index finger to her lips. "Ssh… He's asleep. Come here." She whispered as she started to walk of her tip toes towards Peter's office area. He followed close behind, minding his steps as he made sure to avoid the obvious creaky floor boards. Dana reached for his hand but only for a moment before she retreated, her mind jumping back to what she was there to find out. "So what happened with my apartment?"  
Peter sighed deeply, leaning against his cluttered desk.

"Well, the guys spent the whole night there. They went through all your things, your personal stuff, the tried on some of your clothes, made a few long-distance phone calls, -" Dana sighed heavily at Peter's rendition of the night before. "- Cleaned out the fridge…"

"Did they find anything?" Dana cut to the chase, not wanting to know what all Egon and Ray did while at her and her son's home. Peter sighed again, knowing she wasn't going to like what he was going to say, but had to anyway.

"They found a little bit of that pink slime." Peter admitted, watching as Dana's expression turned grim. "Oh God." She whispered under her breath as not even their home was safe. Why did this thing try to attack Oscar, what did it want with them?

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?"

Peter smiled, raising his eyebrow at the young mother. "You are supposed to get dressed and get crazy with me of the streets of Manhattan tonight." Peter said, pushing himself off the desk. Dana sighed as she shook her head, still not able to get through to Peter after all these years. "Peter, I don't think—"

"This is exactly what you need!" Peter said, pausing mid stride to turn back to Dana, who after all these years was still questioning his sanity. "I have got you a baby-sitter. The whole thing's wired."

"Peter, I don't think we should go on a date." Dana tried to reason with him, but he wasn't having any of it. He tried to run away from her, hoping she'd give up, but she was relentless as she followed him around the apartment. "You know, I can't leave Oscar in a strange place with a strange person."

Peter stopped, facing Dana as if she'd just hurt his feeling. "Strange person? Janine Melnitz, from my staff!"

"Janine has experience? Baby-sitting?" Dana asked, questioning the ability of the Ghostbusters receptionist. Peter noticed her hesitance before laying down the charm with the small bouquet of green and purple flowers. "Here."

"Thank you." Dana said, accepting Venkman's flowers. "But you didn't answer my question."

Peter stumbled, having been caught in a cheap move by Dana. He had to back peddle fast, but he wasn't sure how. Stumbling over his words, Peter stuttered something fierce before finally coming up with an answer.

"Katherine Reed! What about Katherine Reed? She's great with kids."

"Kitty?" Dana questioned, not knowing if Peter knew another Katherine Reed. She didn't know the girl personally, besides knowing that they were neighbors at one point. She seemed sweet enough, why wouldn't she work out?

"I'll call the firehouse and see if she could watch Janine."

"And Oscar?"

"Sure, him too." Peter joked, earning a lightly laugh from Dana's lips.

"I've also brought something from your apartment." Peter said, lifting the old suitcase up to his chest. The clothes inside where crudely shoved into the suitcase, the packer oblivious to the idea of folding as part and sleeves and a bra cup was sticking out of the partially zipped lid. "Some wardrobe choices, a couple of provocative ensembles in here – I'll leave it up to you."

Dana hesitated, but only for a moment before she nodded her head, going along with Venkman's idea. "Okay, but after dinner, don't put any of those old cheap moves on me." She said, making her way back to the bedroom as Peter shook his head overzealously.

"No, no, no, no." Peter defended, following Dana into the back with her suitcase.

"It's different this time."

"I have all new cheap moves."

* * *

Once back from the museum, Ray and Egon ran straight up to the lab to develop the photos from that morning. Kitty had to literally pull Ray away to give him something for his eye, which at this point was starting to bruise under the skin. She pressed a bag of frozen peas against the right side of his face and sent him off, wondering how he could run film at any rate with only one eye.

Winston shook his head at the sight of the two, giddy as school girls to see what was on that roll of film. When they'd finally disappeared, Winston decided he was going to do some more research on Mr. Vigo and that ugly-ass painting. Flipping through the books, he watched as Kitty pranced around the room, dusting off places she's missed with a wet washcloth. He tried his best to stay out of the way, even lifted his feet a couple times when she decided to vacuum the floor. He had to admit, she was taking this job very seriously. He didn't think that floor upstairs had ever been vacuumed.

Behind the roar of the vacuum cleaner, Remy mumbled that she'd be down stairs, working on the monstrosity that was the crumpled Ecto-One. She waited down stairs for the tow truck to deliver the Ghostbusters main mode of transportation, silently twiddling her thumbs as she waited.

Upstairs, however, Kitty was getting to work, cleaning and making sure she didn't miss anything while trying not to distract Ray and Egon, or Winston with her ruckus. She was so busy, working up a storm like that, that she didn't even notice Angie walk up the large staircase until she was at the top.

"Angie!" Kitty shouted over the sound of the vacuum cleaner, shutting it off promptly before rushing to her sister's side. Angie was still dressed in catering uniform, a white button up top and black slacks, her kinky hair pulled back behind her head in a ponytail. She had smudged her makeup, the black eyeliner now crawling around her bottom eyelid as she tried to smile. "Hey." Angie mumbled, waving at the occupants in the room.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had an event."  
"Well, I did." Angie said, rubbing the back of her neck. "But, uh, they sent me home."  
"Why?"  
"Because I, kind of, got sick." Angie shrugged it off like it was nothing.  
"What?"  
"Well, they were pulling out the main course and the smell just hit me like never before. I excused myself, went to the bathroom and after I was fine, but they told me to go home, so I did."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah! I'm fine! I guess what ever made me sick is, uh, _out_ now." Angie tried to put it delicately, but failed as Winston wouldn't be hungry for about a month after this conversation. Kitty rubbed her older sister's shoulder, feeling bad for her but not enough to give her a hug. She still kind of smelled.

The phone rang, Janine got it instantly.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest? You might be coming down with something."  
"No, I'm not coming down with anything." Angie protested.

"You know, there's a lot of that going around." Winston piped in, setting down the ancient book on the coffee table. "Ray was acting a little weird today. Maybe it's a bug going around New York?"  
Angie laughed lightly against her lips. "How was Ray acting weird?"

Kitty's eyes widened as she looked to Winston, hoping sometime today they'd both perfected telepathy. She shook her head slightly, hoping Angie didn't see the jerky movement of her head.

Janine jogged up the staircase, her new hairdo bouncing with every step as she hovered behind Angie. Saved by Janine, Kitty thought, wiping away a bead of sweat.

"Is this a bad time?" Janine asked, noting the tension in the air. Kitty shook her head at the idea. "No, not at all."

"Good. Dr. Venkman asked if you wanted to baby-sit tonight. I'll be there, so it's not like you'll be with him alone." Janine offered, leaning over the wooden railing. Sighing deeply, Kitty shook her head. "After everything today, I'm gonna have to pass."

"What happened today?" They ignored Angie probe for information.

"Okay, I'll tell Venkman – What about you?" Janine pointed to Angie, pulling from her need to know what the hell is going on. Angie stuttered for a moment, not knowing exactly what to say to the offer. She wasn't in the best shape to be around kids right now, but it's not like she had anything better to do.

"Is he paying?" Angie asked, getting her mind back on track. Janine nodded her head.  
"Loads."  
"Tell him I'll be at his apartment at eight!" Angie said, spinning around on her heel to face Janine. "If he needs me to pick up anything, just tell me."

"Okay, I will." Janine said before bouncing back down the stairs, eager to tell Venkman about his new babysitter.

Angie smiled widely at the idea of this work day being not completely wasted. She'd be able to make a little money on the side; how hard could caring for Oscar be? And she didn't get to go home, which was a huge plus.

"Sounds like I'm babysitting tonight." Angie said as she turned back around to Kitty and Winston. Winston rolled his eyes before getting back to work ignoring the pair of women deal with whatever nonsensical problems they were having. He had better things to do, like read up on some creepy painting the might be connected to some mood slime.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed it!  
I'm getting back into the writing kick that I was in not too long ago.  
Look forward to new updates!  
~pure.

P.S. Happy Birthday, John Belushi.  
The first Peter Venkman.


	13. Fire Trapped

I don't own Ghostbusters. Sorry. Wish I did!  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar - of whom I'm totally glad I own.

* * *

Ray and Egon wasted no time, getting to work as fast as they could on the photos Venkman had took at the library. Feeling a little bad about ignoring everyone on the way to the firehouse, they promised they wouldn't take too long with the photos, being a simple development of film – it shouldn't take too long.

Seeing as they needed a photo lab and fast, they had picked the only place that hadn't been subject to experiments just yet: the bathroom. They brought in trays and chemicals in developing the film into the bathroom. Ray switched out the incandescent bulb for a red one so they could see what they were doing without ruining the integrity of the film. Finally, they locked the door and began to develop the film, like they had promised an hour earlier.

The firehouse was silent. Janine and Louis went home early, walking themselves out. The calls had pretty much stopped at this point; after all it was past business hours near a holiday. If any one had any ghosts they would simply have to deal with them until after the holiday. Surely Winston and Remy would have gone home by now, Peter being adamant about overtime (unless a hundred-foot marshmallow man is trying to kill you, then you overtime _and_ vacation days!)

Kitty would have headed home too, maybe seeing Angie before she headed off to Venkman's to babysit Janine – and Oscar.

"We were right, Ray." Egon said, looking at one of the photos from Venkman's camera. Once developed and hung to dry from the chemical developer, they could finally see what was hiding behind the brush strokes. The Moldavian tyrant was masked by a light show of epic proportions. Vigo's face look bloated and almost fish-like as they hadn't seen with their own eyes. "Multi-planar curliean eminations." Egon finished, trying to wrap his brain around why these anomalies would show up in film.

"Yeah, well, here's your next month's cover of GQ. Check out the aura on this sucker!" Ray said, pulling a sheet of photo paper from the solution and clipping it to their line that hung over the trays. "There's definitely a living presence there."

"We should get a deep look." Egon mused out loud, looking closer below the Carpathian's chin at a small blip in the film.

"Why don't I run this wider shot through the spectronalizer?"

"Good, I'll try turning up the rengence. "Egon said as Ray pulled the photo before sliding it through a scanner-like object. Slowly the machine began to search and scan the object with a marching sound, inch by inch taking in the photo – though the boys seemed to have other things on their minds.

"So what you do you think? Chinese?" Ray suggest, leaning on the window ledge beside the spectronalizer.

"How about Thai?" Egon mused, getting a look of disgust from Ray.

"Nah, too spicy. Greek?"

"Mexican?"

"Pizza?"

"Thin or thick? "

"Chicago." Ray said, nodding his head as his stomach growled in agreement. With no more gusto than a microwave, the spectronalizer was done, spitting out the final stripped image down the pure psychokinetic level. Egon grabbed the photo with his bare hand and hung it up besides the others. Now the scanner had definitely found something. Something they were not expecting.

"What the hell is that?" Egon asked as he brought a magnifying glass closer to the image. He squinted his eyes trying to see the image more clearly, but Ray had seen enough.  
"I know what that is. I've seen it before." Ray confessed, his face monotonous like earlier today, only without the fear of him trying to commit vehicular manslaughter.

"Where?"

"When you guys had me dangling like a worm on a hook a hundred feet below First Avenue." Ray said, pointing to the new image, just below Vigo's bloated face was a scene Ray still had nightmares about. "That's the river of slime."

Their moment of intrigue quickly turned to a moment of sheer terror when the photos had been engulfed in flames, seemingly out of no where. The two scientist looked stunned, in too much shock to have the right mind to move from the burning paper and the chemical agent it was covered in. "What the hel-?" Ray asked, paused in place as the picture lit up like the Fourth of July. "Uh Ray." Egon said, slowly backing away from the encroaching flame.

"Get me a blanket or a nose or something!—"

"Let's get out of here." Egon merely suggested, before Ray followed him up to the door.

Ray jiggled the doorknob in his hand, shaking it a couple times thinking that the door was just stuck. It didn't budge. Ray tried again, putting some weight behind it this time but still it didn't move. "Wh-why is this closed?" He asked, jumping back and forth between trying to open the door and trying to find any way out of there as the fire began to creep up the walls.

"Winston!" Egon shouted, banging his fist on the door, hoping to God that Winston didn't go home already. "WINSTON!"

"Hey – FIRE!" Ray shouted, as he banged his own fist against the door, hoping anyone would hear them at this point. A neighbor, a passerby on the street – hell a crazed, stalker-ish fan would even be helpful right now.

"That way! That way!" Egon shouted, pulling Ray to the other side of the small bathroom and away from the door. "What are we gonna do, stick our heads in the toilet?"

The fire reached to the ceiling now, effectively scorching the entire back wall. It was hot, the temperature rising quickly as the flames followed closely behind.

From the other side of the room they heard a busting sound. The sound of something metallic on wood as the door jingled in the door hinge. With one last hit, the butt end of a red fire extinguisher busted through one of the panes of wood in the details of the door. It was pulled back and hammered through again, this time knocking the door loose as Winston began to put out the fire. Spraying the white chemical over the increasing fire, Winston slowly began to win the battle of the fire vs. Ghostbusters too little to late. The photos, the evidence that Vigo had some connection to the river of slime was gone, erased from history.

Winston had the fire controlled in no time, giving Kitty more than enough time to sneak through to make sure the boys were okay. If anything happened she could never forgive herself.

"You boys okay?" She asked, running to Ray and Egon and quickly checking for burns on their gray suits. "We're fine." Egon said, running his hand through his hair, lucky to be breathing at this point. She didn't believe them. She lifted arms, spun them around, checked from any black soot marks on their jumpsuits – luckily there weren't any burns. Kitty lifted Ray's arm, checking his underarm for any marks. "Kitty, we're fine." Ray laughed at the young girls antics. You'd think this was the first time their lives were threatened by a supernatural being before!

Kitty calmed down a little bit, putting Ray's arm back down before she looked at her shoes, issuing a short "Sorry" from her lips.

"We have to find that river of slime." Egon said, getting their minds back on track. "Track it, see where it's going under ground."

"We have to find Venkman." Ray said, nodding along with Egon's plan, only plus a person. "He'll want to know what's going on with the slime."

"I'm coming too." Kitty said, putting her foot down in the midst of all the chaos. Egon began to speak up against the idea, but Kitty stopped him before he got started. "This isn't up for debate. I'm coming along."

"You don't know how to use the proton pack."

"Then I won't use one. I'll read the map, shoo away the rats – I'll park the damn car if you want! But I'm coming along." She'd put her foot down. No more miss nice girl as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched both Ray and Egon. Neither of them seemed to like the idea, but who would stop her? Besides, if it's just the river of slime then it couldn't be anything too dangerous – Nothing that Angie could kill them for later.

Ray's eyes widened at the idea before finally voicing his concerns like a paranoid parent. "Don't tell Angie."

"Wouldn't have even dreamed of it." Kitty said, smirking. There seemed to be a lot that they weren't telling Angie. Surely she'd find out, it was only a matter of time.

But what Angie didn't know wouldn't kill them. Immediately.

* * *

Venkman's apartment needed to be cleaned, badly. Dana had done her best, but the stench of bachelorhood was thick over the entire studio apartment. Not even the thickest, sweetest, heaviest air fresheners could affect the smell of gym socks and musk. Of course, those were the places Venkman had tried to cover with the smell of Old Spice cologne before Janine, Angie and Louis got there. Louis was a nice surprise, Angie thought, not having seen the man since they moved from the haunted apartment building over of Central Park West. That was fun. It was also all Louis could talk about while the four of them waited from Dana to get dressed.

Peter, on the other hand, looked very spiffy. He'd run out of the bedroom, tucking his white collared shirt into his pants, his tie wrapped around his neck haphazardly. Angie had never seen Pete cleaned up and looking presentable like that. Of course at the courthouse, but she was pretty sure that was court-mandated.

He looked around franticly for a mirror to check himself for food in the teeth, the hair of his head sticking up at a weird angle, and finally to tie his stupid tie. Ties were stupid. Are stupid. No one needs a tie. But for some reason, all his clip-on's had vanished from the face of the earth, leaving only the straight kind hanging in his closet. He began to wrap it around his neck several times, before trying a square knot on the silver tie. He wasn't a boy scout; this was the only knot he knew!

Angie, from across the room, watched in horror as he tried to tie his tie and failing. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. She watched him try again, this time wrapping the long part of the tie over and over and over until it was almost like a rope-braid down the front of his suit.

"Oh my God." She finally said, getting everyone, including the lost-cause in the suit's attention. "How do you not know how to tie a tie?"

"For your information I do this all the time." Peter said, lying out his ass. "It loosens up the fibers in the tie, makes them more pliable-"

"Oh for fucks sake." Angie sighed, standing up from her comfy chair to strut across the room to Peter as he continually struggled with the cheap tie. "It's not that hard." She said, un twisting the tie as she re-adjusted it around Peter's neck.

"How do you know?" He teased, lowering his hands and standing up straight, giving Angie the best possible angle to tie his tie.

"I went to catholic school." She said, as she skillfully wrapped the tie around itself. "My brother didn't know how to tie either, so I would tie his ties, everyday for school."

"Could he not tie it himself, or are you _that_bad of a teacher?"

"No." Angie laughed. "None of the men knew how to tie their ties. Something of a Reed curse, I guess."

Angie pulled against one end of the silver tie, pulling the Windsor knot close to Peter's neck without choking him. She stood back and admired her work, seeing she still had it.

"Luckily, the Reed women are fast learners."

Peter smirked before looking at himself in the mirror, admiring the tie as it pulled it together. He looked swanky, if that word ever made sense before. He looked damned good in a suit and knew it. Raising his eyebrow at the reflection, Peter said. "Bond. James Bond."

Rolling her eyes, Angie walked back to the sofa, were Janine and Louis looked uncomfortable sitting so close to each other. They sat on opposite sides of the couch and kept to themselves mostly, besides the occasional stolen glance.

While Peter played with his tie, listing off the most notable 007 lines in the worst Sean Connery accent, Dana emerged from the bedroom, sneaking passed the squeaky door with ease. "Hi." She seemed to 'appear' behind Peter in the mirror, making him jump out of what ever scene in Octopussy he was just in to look at the beautiful woman before him. Dana smiled nervously, lowering her head down as Peter got a good look at her. She wore a beautiful green dress that hung just off her shoulders, her hair polished and curled away from her radiant face. Peter felt like he'd died and gone to heaven; cheesy line, but the way his knees gave out when she walked in the room, it was almost the truth. "Hi." He finally said back, too stunned for words. Dana smiled before turning to the living room where her _three_ babysitters sat waiting.

"I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice." Dana said, circling the couch to face the three of them. Though Louis and Janine were there, she spoke almost directly to Angie. "I know you probably had other things to do tonight, but I really appreciate it."

"Not a problem."  
"Don't sweat it."  
"It'll be fine."

Dana tried to hide her mother's paranoia under a smile, but it still leaking through as she noticed Janine and Louis, still exchanging glances. Thank God Angie was here.

"Now, you know the number of the restaurant." Dana began listing off numbers, forgetting the fact that she'd written them down on two pieces of paper – in case they lost one. "And you know the number of his pediatrician, but call me before you call him. Don't forget my mother's phone, she lives in queens." Dana continued, while Peter effectually ushered her out the door. Angie nodded, trying to get all that she could of the mad woman's rambles, but it was mostly so Dana wouldn't have to repeat herself.

"And don't' forget that he has to go down for his nap after dinner, otherwise he'll get cranky.—"

"Dana, we're gonna be late." Peter sang as they got closer and closer to the doorframe.

"Okay, okay." Dana breathed, trying her hardest to let go of her worries. "He'll be fine. He'll be fine!"

"Dana." Angie spoke up, leaning in close to the worried woman. "He'll be fine."

Somehow, the words sounded better when someone else said it. It wasn't he telling herself that, trying to talk her into the idea. No, it was someone who actually had control over the situation after she'd left, telling her that everything was going to be okay. That actually helped.

"Okay, bye!" Peter shouted from the hallway, his fingers wrapped around Dana's hand as he lead her out of the room. "Bye-bye, now. Bye!"

"Bye, Oscar!" Dana said, waving to the closed bedroom door as if he would shout back 'bye!'.

Ever so gently, Peter lead Dana down the hallway as Angie closed the door behind them, effectively shutting them out of the apartment. Now the three of them could do there job as well as they could.

Janine and Louis looked nervous, from exchanging glances to now looking anywhere but the other person. This was gonna be fun.

"All right, the parents are gone. Time to party." Angie joked, latching the deadbolt on the door. "Who wants to raid Venkman's liquor cabinet and get _crazy_?"  
The two were silent as the grave.

"… Or we could order some pizza and play cards until they get back?"

Louis perked up a slightly. "I think I found a deck earlier in Peter's room."

"There we go – Oh! Be careful. Oscar is sleeping in there." Angie warned as Louis made his way across the room, tip toeing into Venkman's room. Angie moved swiftly over the creaking floorboards and called up the best place in Little Italy to deliver two large pizzas to Venkman's address. No expense was too high, as Venkman had left his check book out on the kitchen counter.

Tonight, they would dine like kings (of the Westside)

* * *

I told you I was gonna update!  
With the ice outside my window, it's not like I can do anything else.  
My fingers are gonna fall off from typing so much.

~pure.


	14. River of Slime

I don't not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar

* * *

Thank God they had their headlamps on their heads, Kitty thought as she followed closely behind the boys as they shuffled through the abandoned subway tunnel below First Avenue. She couldn't had just stayed in the car – better yet, stay at the firehouse! No, she had to be all tough, all ''I'm going and their nothing you can say to change my mind"! She would like to go back and time and slap that little idiot. She was tough, but brave was another story.

They could barely see in front of them, shuffling their feet along as they tried to stay on the tracks, which Kitty never really got a good reason for why they were tripping and falling over the train tracks. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, the alert feeling that someone was watching her prominent as she hung back from the boys. It was a truly weird feeling that she didn't like. She didn't like this at all.

"Ah!" Winston shouted briefly, falling over his own footing as she stumbled forward. It seemed she wasn't the only one on edge as Ray and Egon both shouted at Winston's shouting, scaring the daylights out of them. Even Kitty had to jump back, finding herself closer to Ray and Egon as Winston stood back up. "Will you watch you step?" Egon said with a bite. The creepy tunnel was getting to him too.

Winston flashed his flashlight briefly on the brick walls as they dripped with water, splashing down into a puddle that had suggested it wasn't the first time these walls had dripped. The splashing sound was interesting, as she could have swore that they were voices, saying something to her. He mind was playing tricks on her, she was sure of it, but it didn't take away the creep factor.

"I hate this." Winston whined, having looked over his shoulder a hundred times since entering the subway tunnel.

"According to this old transit map there should be an entrance anywhere along here somewhere." Ray said, looking at the ancient map he found between two book s at the library that one time. Not really a reliable source, Kitty thought. But still, she followed them through the Scary Tunnel of Death.

Egon waved around the Geiger meter, scanning the air for… Something… Egon was in too much of a rush to tell her anything about this one. Usually the guys are all ready for a lesson, but not today. She guessed that after having their lives threatened by spontaneous combusting photographs, there isn't too much time for a tech lesson.

"I'm not getting anything yet." Egon said, disheartened but determined as he kept waving the meter around.

"Well, at least it's too dark to see the cockroaches." Winston said, looking at the Brightside of the dark tunnel. Kitty had almost forgotten about that.

"Forget about cockroaches." Ray said, sending a mischievous look Egon's way. "It's the subway rats you gotta worry about. Big as beavers."  
Winston turned around once more, now on the look out for beaver sized rats.

"Yeah, some of them can go four, five kilo." Egon said, joining in on the fun of tormenting Winston.

"Hey, hey, enough, all right?" His pleas for mercy where left unheard as Ray continued.  
"Listen to them, you hear the behind the wall. Scratching. There must be thousands of them-!"

"AHH!" Kitty screamed, jumping and latching on to one of the Ghostbusters. In the dark, she wasn't sure who she grabbed, but for some reason she thought that they would save her.

"Something just touched me! Something - over there, touched me - over here!" She began freaking out uncontrollably. "One of those rat things!"  
"There are no 'rat things' in the subway." Egon said calmly and uncomfortably close. She didn't realize she'd grabbed onto Egon's back, pushing him towards the spot where she was 'touched'. "We were joking."

"Yeah," Ray said, but still not letting up. "You'd probably smell those things before you felt one—"

"Just shut up about the rats!" Winston said, turning around for the last time. With Winston freaked out and Kitty clinging to Egon for safety, it seems the joke went just a little too far.

"Okay, okay." Ray said, giving up the ghost (get it?) and getting back to the reason they were there: the slime.

So far nothing slime related had happened. He'd even checked the walls to see if slime had been there to no avail.

"Hello?" Ray shouted down the long tunnel, maybe hoping the slime would shout out 'Here I am!'

"Hello?" His echo shouted back, the sound reverberating off the cold train tunnel walls. The four of them looked at each other knowingly, in all their years in New York, never had there been so few people so cause an echo, or not to get yelled back at for yelling in the first place.

Egon was next, as he shouted "Hey!"

"Hey!" His voice echoed back. It was amazing, they were scientist that captured ghosts for a living and they were playing with their echoes like children. Kitty thought she was above playing in the tunnel, but it just looked like so much fun!

Winston was next. He smiled before shouting down the tunnel, "Hello?"

They didn't hear anything back.

An unnatural silence took over the darkness as they waited longer for Winston's echo. The hair the back of Kitty's neck stood up on end as they heard an un earthly growl come from the down the train tracks.

_"WIIIIINNNSSSTTTONNN…"_

If Winston wasn't freaked out earlier by the talk of the rats, then he definitely was now that some creature had uttered his name in a threatening tone. He didn't move, stunned in place, maybe blinking a couple times but that was it. Ray and Egon looked to each other, seemingly ignoring Kitty as she clung to Egon's back like a frightened cartoon cat from the 60's.

The four of them turned around down the way they had just come down, thinking that if anything was gonna pop out, it would be behind them. Surely, it would be behind them. "Okay, I'm outta here…" Winston said, in his mind giving his final resignation. This was his two week notice as of tonight.

A bile odor seemingly appeared out of nowhere, assaulting Kitty and the boys' noses. It was strong, almost knocking the wind out of her as it resembled the smell of rotting flesh, raw sewage and a sweet smell that had no place being there. It was unlike anything that Kitty had ever smelt in her life. She thought it was the sewers below, but that thought quickly shot out of her mind as Winston screamed, turning everyone else around to see the horrors before them.

Hundreds and hundreds of dismembered heads where around them all at once, surrounding them in the tunnels. The sweet/rotting flesh smell coming from the floating heads as it waved over them, almost knocking Kitty out once or twice.

They surrounded them; they were trapped as the boys screamed over each other at the horrific sights. Kitty latched on to Egon, hiding behind him as she began to pray to which ever God was listening.

In a flash, the horror was over.

"They're gone." Winston said with a mix of amazing and relief, his heart returning back to its rightful place and a normal pace.

All of the dismembered heads had disappeared, vanished in the night as they had done their job: to scare the shit out of the Ghostbusters and Company.  
"What the he—?" Ray breathed, surprised as anyone on what exactly just happened. There were no words to describe what just happened, and there wasn't going to be any.

"Before we go any further I think we should get our Proton Packs." Egon said, trying to be the voice of reason as he too calmed down after the strange encounter.

"Good idea." Winston breathed, as the four of them made their way back to the manhole they climbed down and back to the Ecto-One, where their was surely no dismembered heads. Kitty had let go of Egon and emerged beside him. Not trying to hide from the scary heads anymore, she finally felt good enough not to hide as she was soon going to be safe inside the Ecto-One. She silently vowed never to come along with the Ghostbusters ever again.

As the four of them made their way back, they began to feel the floor beneath their feet shake and rumble. The rhythmic sound surrounding them as the all stopped in mid stride.

"What's that?" Winston asked, his voice low and breathy like a whisper.  
"What's what?" Ray said, hoping that Winston didn't hear the same thing he had just heard.  
"It's sounded like a train."

The walls rattled again, knocking some loose mortar down from the aging brick walls.

"Uh-uh. These lines have been abandoned for fifty years." Ray said out loud, reassuring both himself and Winston.  
"Oh."

Kitty followed closely between Egon and Winston, practically on their heels. She wrapped her arms around her body, holding herself tightly as she could feel herself shake. She wasn't sure if it was the temperature outside or if it was the fact that there was a rouge train around here somewhere that someone hadn't accounted for.

The rumbling seemed to get closer as they in turn got closer to the exit, a safe haven from the insanity that they were experiencing. The rumbling got louder, this time accompanied by the squeal of brakes on something heavy - unmistakably a train. The four of the stopped midstride once more.

Egon was the first to say something re assuring - again, mostly for his own sake.

"Probably in one of the tunnels above us." He said, urging them to keep going with his explanation.

"I don't know, sounded awfully close to me." Winston said as he looked up at the vents above, watching for a shadow of a train to help ease his mind. Nothing changed in the shadows above, but a light at the end of the tunnel gave way for new shadows below. The four of them looked ahead at the bright light, accompanied by the rattling Chug-a-chug-a noise of the train and faint silhouette of an old locomotive.

The four of them screamed at the sight of the train that wasn't supposed to be there. Ray moved off to one side, while Egon grabbed Kitty's arm and pulled her to the other, leaving Winston in the middle.

Winston screamed loudly over the sound of the train as he shut his eyes, saying goodbye to his cruel world.

It was to everyone surprise, and Winston's, that he kept screaming as the train passed right through him. Winston stood in place on the tracks, still anticipating death as she screamed his head off. Kitty lifted her head and watched as the white outline of the train passed over Winston like a wave, leaving him with nothing – not even a scratch!

Once the train passed by, Egon and Kitty made there way over to see if Winston was okay. Surely something had to have happened to him during all that.

Kitty went to Winston's side, checking to see if Winston was hurt in anyway. Physically he was fine, however mental might've been different story. His eyes bugged out of his head, he hadn't blinked since he got 'run over' by the ghost train. Kitty waved her hand in front of his face, but he didn't waver.

Egon knew exactly what to do to help Winston in his fragile state.

"I think that was the old New York Central City Albany! Derailed in 1920! Killed hundreds of people. Did you catch the number on the locomotive?"

"Sorry." Winston breathed as he finally blinked. "I missed it."

Kitty, doing her best to help out in the situation, picked up Winston's hard hat from around his feet. In the blast from the ghost train, Winston's hardhat blew off his jerry-curled head and fell behind him. Of course, he was too stunned to pick it up; you know, being run over and all.

"Something's trying to stop us." Egon said, turning around to look for any more trains that might what to kill them. "We must be getting close."

In looking around the tunnel for any more ghost trains, they all seemed to notice around the same time that they were short one man – a one Raymond Stantz.  
"Where's Ray?" Winston asked, spinning around in place looking for the absent scientist. Kitty looked around too, frantic as evil little thoughts began to creep into her mind.  
"Ray?"  
"Ray!"  
"Ray?!" They all start shouting in the tunnel, hoping that the ghost train didn't just kidnap their friend.

"Angie is going to kill me!" Kitty shouted, her voice slightly echoing off the walls. Right now was not the time for another spooky-head-trick thing.  
"Ray?"  
"Raaay?"  
"Ray!"

"GUYS!" Ray shouted from behind them all, scaring them even closer to death as they all shouted. It was at the moment Kitty wanted to kill Ray Stantz herself. Screw Angie, she'd get over it.

"Sorry." Ray said, moving closer to the three of them as he announced "I found it!"

"What? Where?" Egon asked, forgetting about the 'something' that was trying to stop them.  
"Right here, there's a hole!" Ray said, leading them to the river of slime. Egon followed side by side to Ray, while Kitty stuck back with Winston as he shouted about the packs.

"What about the packs?"

* * *

The deep sound of rumbling filled their ears - different than the train - as they followed Ray down the hole where the river of slime was supposed to be. After the way he'd hyped it up, it almost seemed too good to be true that the river of slime was really there. Regardless, they followed Ray as he led them passed a crack in the wall in the tunnel. The bricks and mortar had worn away from the hundred or so years of the train tunnels, making it easily for the four of them to make there way to other lines.

The four of them slid down the rocky landslide, weary not to run into the other one but to no avail. As they slide down Kitty landed in Winston's lap, while Egon fell on top of her, sliding face first into her shoulder.

Ray had already made his way out of the small tunnel, leading out to the old Van Horne Pneumatic Transit, the bright pink slime flowing on the tracks with its own current and everything. It would be beautiful if it wasn't so deadly.

The three of them followed close behind Ray as he showed off the slime in its magnitude.

"Unbelievable." Egon breathed, practically speechless at the sight.

"What'd I tell you? I wasn't lying, was I?" Ray said, gloating a little bit in the discovery.

Kitty's eyes widened as the slime bubbled and garbled as it rushed by them like white water might, it was crazy to think that all this was down under the streets of New York for this long and no one noticed it. Well, one person noticed.

"Do you realize how much negative energy it must have taken to generate a flow this size?" Egon asked, in shock by the volume of the slim. Winston just smirked and shrugged his shoulder. "Hey, New York, what a town!"

"Let's see how deep it is. Get a sounding." Egon said, as Kitty pulled out a small pendant on a measuring tape-like apparatus from her belt strap.

With the pendant in hand, she tossed it towards the middle of the current and immediately it got hooked to something. In a matter of seconds, she began reading off the numbers.

"Six feet." She said as the tape pulled in her hands, slipping out of control. "Twelve feet?"

"What?" Ray asked as he looked over at her to make sure she was using it right.

"I think something's pulling on it!" Kitty said as the reel began to spin faster and faster, pulling even more tape from her hands.

"Try to hold on."

"I am holding on! Something's pulling it—" Kitty defended as Winston tried to grab hold of the tape as well, but it was too strong even for his grip and slid right through his fingers.

"Hold on! Hold on to it!" Egon shouted as he joined Winston, holding on to Kitty and the tape to stop it from going down, or at least to pull on what was pulling the tape so far. "Ray, give me hand!" Egon shouted over at Ray as he just stood there in a stupor, much like at the museum while staring at that Vigo painting.

"_What was will be! What is will be no more! Now is the season of evil!"_

"RAY!" Egon and Winston shouted at him, pulling him from his own strange thoughts and shaking him out of his day dream as he walked along the side to help Kitty with her fight with the slime.

"Hold on!" Winston shouted over the rushing of the violent slime as Ray decided to join the real world.

"Come on, get the belt off!" Ray said, working at the buckle around her waist five seconds too late. The tape reached the end of the reel, pulling Kitty into the river.

"AH!" She shouted quickly before becoming submerged in the pink goop that ran under the city. She bobbed back up to the surface as the tape and her belt pulled her down the river, following the current under the streets of Manhattan. "Help!" She screamed, waving her arms in the air to the get the boys attention.

"Help me, you idiots!" Her voice echoed in the chamber as the slime current pulled her around a corner, disappearing from their sight.

The three of them stood there, stunned as Kitty was pulled around the bend, who know where. What could they do to save her in the river? It was at that moment the boys seemed to share an idea that made them all regret it. Ray was the first to act as he grabbed onto his hard hat with one hand and plugged his nose with the other and jumped feet first into the toxic goop, Egon and Winston fell in suit and they followed not too far behind, getting pulled along in the current and wishing that they would have just stayed at the firehouse.

* * *

I decided to skip the scene where the Ghostbusters ask Peter to come with them.  
I just couldn't make it work, so I didn't put it in.  
I hope none of you will miss that scene too much.  
Hope you enjoyed it!  
~pure


	15. Angry and Pants-less

I don't not own Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Snow White, I Love Lucy, Winnie the Pooh, or He-Man.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar (Who is a little AWOL right now).

* * *

Not surprisingly, Peter's apartment got a lot quieter when he and Dana left for their date, even with the baby up and about. The re-run of_ I Love Lucy_ played in the background as all eyes were drawn to baby Oscar in his _Winnie the Pooh_ crawler. Louis was holding him, as the pecking order soon became apparent. Janine got to hold him for a little while, then Louis, and then finally Angie.

Angie now sat on the couch in Venkman's living room, watching Louis tell Oscar his version of a bedtime story. He wondered around Venkman's apartment with little Oscar on his hip, telling him the story of Snow White.

"So the seven little dwarves had a limited partnership in a small mining operation, and one day a beautiful princess came to live with them, and the bartered housekeeping services for room and board. Which was a real good deal for them because the didn't hade to withhold Social Security of income tax or nothing, which you're really not supposed to do, you see, but for the purposes of this story I think it's okay." Louis blabbered on and on about the legalities of a fairytale.

The kid didn't want a law degree in one night, he wanted a story so he could go to sleep and dream of a day when Louis wasn't boring him with stories, Angie thought. She watched as Louis got closer and closer to Venkman's bedroom before opening the door.

"Oh no!" Angie all but exclaimed, causing Louis to stop in the doorjamb. "You are not about to put him down when it's almost my turn with the baby."  
"But he's tired."  
"Then let me put him down." Angie pleaded, getting up from her seat on the couch. "You two can talk or play a game or whatever, while I put Young Sir Oscar to bed." She said definitively as she took Oscar from Louis' hands. Oscar cooed on Angie's shoulder, her thick curly hair partially covering the bald child's head.

"If you need any help call." Louis offered Angie as he walked back to the living room with Janine. Angie nodded briefly before closing the door behind the baby and her, blocking out the extra noise the grown ups where making.

Dana had definitely cleaned up, she thought as she looked around Venkman's room. She was sure she'd find dirty clothes, messy dishes cluttering his nightstand, maybe even a bra or two hanging from the ceiling fan. A tornado would have gladly made themselves at home had Dana not cleaned before everyone showed up tonight.  
_"You know, it really is a great place. It needs a woman's touch—"_

Oscar gnawed on his fist, drooling down his arm as his eyes lids got really heavy. He was going to fall asleep any minute now.

Angie quickly tipped toed over Dana's shoes, left out haphazardly on the ground, as she laid Oscar down on his back. His looked up to her inquisitively, questioning everything about her. Angie couldn't help but smile at the child looking up at her.

"Hello there Oscar." She said in her cutest baby voice. The idea of Venkman walking in on her talking in a baby voice made her nervous. She'd never hear the end of it from him. He'd be relentless as usual and today wasn't the day for that.

Lowering her voice, she kneeled down beside the bed, watching as Oscar's eyes followed until she was on the same level as him.

"Hey buddy." She said, whispering to him as if her could under stand. "Aunty Angie is gonna make sure you go to sleep, alright?"

He didn't do anything to acknowledge she was even there.

"Good." She said as she put a small fleece baby blanket over his shoulders. "Night-night, Oscar."

The sweet child yawned deeply under the warmth of the blanket before closing his eyes. She absent-mindedly rubbed her fingers over Oscar's head, patting the child goodnight.

'_Aw. I want one'_, she thought to herself as she looked over Oscar now in a deep sleep.

It was true she'd wanted a baby like Oscar, quiet, easily excited, curious about things. Only his hair would have to be a dark brown in contrast to Oscar's blond hair. And instead of blue eyes that Oscar shared with his father, her child would have brown eyes. And a short button nose.

And look like Ray.

Her eyes widened at the thought. She knew Ray didn't want kids and she wasn't going to push it on him. They'd only been dating again for a couple days – the boys _just found out _yesterday! It was too soon to be thinking such thoughts. Right now she just wanted to enjoy being with Ray, a feeling she'd missed for three years. She wasn't about to screw it up by bringing up old baggage.

With Oscar's eyes closed and a soft snoring emitting from his belly, she thought that just might be a good idea. Angie leaned up against the wall beside the bed, ducking her head just below the window pane, and closed her eyes to dream about other things. Most certainly not children.

* * *

While the major streets where lined with holiday traffic, the street out in front of the museum was, thankfully, empty from cars as the manhole cover began to move. It was moving in place as something banged up against it before finally breaking it free and moving the giant piece of metal out of the way. Pure steam emerged from the tunnel below as gloved hand grabbed at the pavement above it as Raymond Stantz pulled himself from withing the bowels of New York's underground. He gasped for air as he grasped for pavement to pull himself up and out of the hell hole that was the river of slime. He grunted heavily as he lifted himself from the sewer line, quickly moving out of the way for the next person in line to climb out. Winston Zeddemore clung to the asphalt in the middle of the street as he pulled himself up, kicking the entire way up. The slime on both of their body steamed up nicely in the cold December air, but only about half of it was from the slime itself, the other half was from their pure anger they felt bubbling inside.

"Nice going, Ray." Winston snapped as he finally stood up from the manhole, letting Kitty have a chance to climb out of the sewer. "What are you trying to do drown me?"

"Oh, you say it more like it was my fault!" Ray shouted back, slime flying everywhere as he gestured wildly. "But you were too stupid to get that belt off Kitty!"

Kitty pushed herself out of the manhole and to her feet quickly at the sound of her name being used. With her blood well passed boiling, she marched right up to Ray and Winston and joined there little shouting match.

"If you hadn't been a space cadet for five fucking minutes, maybe we could have gotten the damned thing off before we went swimming!"

"Don't yell at me, missy! We all know what if you hadn't come with us in the first place, that none of this would have happened!"

"Oh no. Of course nothing would have happened, because you're some goddamn psychic!" Kitty shouted back, getting in Ray's face. "If I wasn't here then someone else would have gone for a dip. Most likely you, meat head!"

"If you had even an ounce of brain cells in that thick skull of yours, you would have let go of the damned belt! Anyone else might have let go, but not you, princess!"

"Your right, Ray. Oh, you're always right. I'm so sorry for being a bumbling idiot, I should just listen to you all the time since you're always right, and I'm a fucking idiot!"

"You sound just like your sister." Ray said, waving off the hot head. If that was his idea of defusing the situation, it didn't work.

Kitty's eyes grew out of her head as her jaw dropped, in shock at what he'd just said to her. "You pompous asshole! I have no idea what my sister sees in you if she thinks you're anything more than a stubborn dickhead!"

"Oh shut up!"

"Angie was so much happier without you in her life – I don't know why she gave you another chance."

Kitty's words hit hard as Ray stumbled back a second. What would have been hurt and sadness almost instantly turned to rage as he balled up his fist. Winston noted the balled up fists and assumed it as at him. "What, you wanna go?"

"Yeah." Ray growled before he began throwing punches wildly, not really caring who he hit. Winston tried to defend himself, but through just as wild punches as Ray did. Neither of them had been in a fight since grade school, and it showed.

Silently, Egon went through his head as best as he could, his mind clouded with a curious amount anger that came out of no where. He wasn't angry, and yet his body told him that he was raging, pulsating with bad intentions.

He looked down at the goop between his fingers, how the slime made his fingers stick together and how he almost saw a spark run between the stick strands.

It clicked with him in an instant, right before Ray and Winston began trying to bash each others heads in.

"Wait, wait!" Egon shouted as he pulled of his own gloves and through them to the ground. He run hobbled to Ray and Winston in a violent embrace, trying to pull them apart. "Stop, stop!"

"Get your clothes off!" Egon shouted at the other three before stripping of his own yellow rain suit, exposing his red long johns to the world.

It made sense to Ray and Winston as they stopped fighting long enough to pull their suits off. Kitty too stepped out of the slime saturated rain suit, tossing it to the side as she stood in the middle of New York in nothing but a_ He-Man_ tank top and whitey-tighty underwear.

Though freezing from the lack of clothes covering her body, she still felt the heavy notion of pure anger lift from her body as each ounce of goop was shed from her body.Ray and Winston felt it too as they both stripped down to their long john's, the weight of anger lifting from them as Kitty noticed them physically stand up straight.

"Oh, Jesus, Ray." Winston was lost for words as he tried to apologies for what had just happened. "What were we doing? I was ready to kill you."

Kitty scoffed under her breath.

"It's the stuff. It's like pure concentrated evil." Ray explained as best as he knew how, grasping for words to try any explain exactly what just happened.

"And it's all flowing right to this spot." Egon said, pointing to the building behind them, adorned with carvings of cherub's small statues in the building architecture, and two big sphinxes in the front, guarding the Manhattan Museum of Art.

* * *

"This is fantastic!" Ray exclaimed, excited about the fact of hard core proof tying Vigo to the slime, and even to the museum! He gleefully ignored the part where they all tried to kill each other. He might have forgotten, but Kitty didn't. She was silent as the four of them walked back to the Ecto-One, talking about what to do now.

"We have to find Venkman." Egon said, rubbing his hand through his still goopy hair as the slime acted like hair gel. It just reminded Kitty on how much she needed a shower. Looking down at her bare legs, she also noted she'd need some pants.

"Do you remember where he said he was headed?" Winston asked as they turned a street corner, the Ecto-One illegally parked just were they'd left it.

"I can't remember. Maybe I should call Janine and Angie—"

"Herman's." Kitty said, breaking her vow of angry silence. "Angie told me they were going to place near Central Park called Herman's. It's right on the green."

"Alright, let's go!" Ray said enthusiastically as he climbed into the driver's seat, only to be ushered back out by Winston after today's car crash. He would never live that down.

"Uhh… Ray? Why don't you help Kitty find some clothes?" Winston suggested, pointing with his chin at the freezing young woman in her underwear on a New York street corner. Needless to say, it didn't look good.

Ray nodded, agreeing with Winston as he made his way to the back of the Ecto-One. He pulled open the back and began to dig through the mess that they called a car. Ray grabbed a loose proton pack and placed it in another corner of the car as he laughed.

"Hey, good thing we didn't bring the proton packs along, huh?" Ray joked, earning nothing from Kitty as she stayed silent.

The back was messy as hell. Kitty thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have to clean this too, on top of the monstrous Firehouse. Her eyes widened as he threw a bag of Grey's Papaya to another corner, looking under every nook and cranny for something to work as pants. Even if they had another jumpsuit in here, that would have helped.

The silence was killer, he thought before finding the spare work suit that Venkman would have worn had he come with them. "Ah-ha!" Ray exclaimed, pulling the bright yellow pants from underneath a pile of what Kitty would call trash. Ray called it _uncategorized_.

"Found it!" Ray said, handing the pair of bright yellow pants to Kitty as she silently thanked him. She still didn't look him in the eye.  
"Are you okay?" Ray asked, hoping for a truthful answer and finding none as she nodded her head. She still didn't look him in the eyes.

"Is it about the fight?" Ray asked. Kitty didn't even seem to notice he had said anything. Surely that was it.

"About Winston and me fighting, or—"

"I'm sorry." Kitty interrupted, holding the pair of pants close to her body, but still not actually putting them on yet.

"For what?"  
"For everything I said."  
"Hey, don't worry about it. We all said some things we didn't mean." Ray said as he put his arm on Kitty's shoulder.  
"Angie is a lot happier since you two got back together. I see that little glint in her eye that I hadn't seen in years."  
"You see it too?" Ray said shocked. For some reason he thought he was the only one who saw that.  
"Oh yeah. Angie is nuts about you. I should know, I live with the woman." Kitty joked, laughing for the first time since climbing out of the sewer.

Ray smiled before pulling Kitty into hug in the middle of the street. "Thank you." He mumbled into her hair. "I know it's been really hard on both of you. But I want you to know I'm not going anywhere."

The statement caught Kitty off guard, as she had to hold back tears she'd kept for three years. Ray pulled her away as he saw hot tears start to roll down both of her cheeks. "Kitty, what's wrong?" Ray asked innocently enough as Kitty put her hand in front of her face.

"I just…" She paused, sniffing loudly as she tried to maybe suck her tears back inside her head. "It's just-… You know, you didn't _just_ walk out on Angie." Kitty sniffed, trying her hardest to stop the flow of tears. "You were my friend too, and you just left without saying goodbye. You don't just walk into someone's life and leave without saying goodbye."

Her tears got her another hug from Ray as he tried to comfort the girl. He absently rubbed her back as she tried to fight even more tears.  
"Do you even know how rude that is?" She asked, her joke muffled in the fabric of Ray's long johns. He laughed lightly, trying to lighten the mood but it didn't help. He felt like shit for leaving now, even though it was so long ago.

"I'm sorry, Kitty. I really am." Ray said, getting a nervous laugh from Kitty as he pulled away. He held her at arms length as she tried to wipe away the tears from her red eyes. "I didn't know it had bothered you."  
"Well it did." Kitty said, sniffing loudly. "And you didn't even say anything that night on First Avenue. Instead you got me arrested!"  
"I said I was sorry about that."  
"I know, I just like bringing it up." Kitty said, getting a laugh from Ray. Her tears had dried in cold December air as Ray still hadn't let go of her forearms.

Kitty tried to think of the best way to put this, but there wasn't a way to say it without sounding terribly demanding to the person she was trying not to be pissed off at anymore.

"Ray, I'm glad we're on good terms now." She softened the blow. "But could you let go of me now, I'm fucking freezing and I can't feel my toes."

Ray laughed lightly before letting go of Kitty's arms. As if in turbo-mode, she quickly jumped into the pair of yellow plastic pants. At this point something was better than nothing as she tightened the pants around her waist by the draw string. She had pants on, but she was still fucking freezing.

"Can we go inside now?"

"Yeah, let's do that." Ray said as he ran to the side of the Ecto-One and pulled open the door. Winston started the engine quickly, getting some heat circulating in the cabin before the four of them made their way to Central Park to visit their good friend Venkman.

* * *

Coffee = Good!  
First of two chapters I've finished tonight, and I ain't done.  
And yes I used the word ain't.  
I like it.  
~pure.


	16. Scaring the Straights

I don't own Ghostbusters or Ghostbusters II.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar (Seriously, where did I put that chick?)

* * *

"Are you sure this is it?" Winston asked upon entering the nicely sized bistro of Herman's; just off of Central Park and within driving distance to Peter's apartment. The four of them bulldozed their way in, ignoring the dress code of black tie and going for a more colorful approach of red long johns and bright yellow pants.

"Is this the place?"

"Yeah, he said Herman's." Ray said as he looked around the lobby of this fine establishment, ignoring the maitre d' as he tried to usher them out of his restaurant. The maitre d' looked wildly at the men and woman who were certainly not on the list. "You can't come in here. Sir, you can't come in here." He repeated as almost a mantra as he tried to block the Ghostbuster's entrance to his facility. Egon tried to defused the situation by simply explaining to the guy.

"It's okay, we're just here to see a friend."  
Thinking that maybe by telling him that they weren't going to eat there the maitre d' would let them through.  
"We'll only be a minute."

He'd seen the news and he knew just the kind of damage they do, he sure as hell didn't want it going on in his restaurant.

Despite the man's protest, there was just too many of them as they bullied their way through to the dining area. The guys talked over each other, excited about what they had found and bringing all attention on them from the once quiet dinning area.

"Venkman!" Ray shouted as he picked Peter and Dana out in the middle of the dinning room. The four of them crept upon their once lovely dinner and begin to tell them all about what they'd just discovered all at once.

The boys all talked over each other, while Kitty tried to explain what exactly they were saying – their words just blended to noise

"Boys! Boys! You are scaring the straights. Is there anyway we can do this tomorrow?"

"No, no, this won't wait until tomorrow, Venkman. It's hot and it's ready to pop." Egon said as he took a seat at the table.  
"It's all over the city, Pete!" Ray exclaimed.  
"- Under it."  
"Under it, yeah."  
"Rivers of this stuff."  
"And it's all flowing right to the museum."  
"Yeah, the museum!" Ray said excitedly as he pointed quickly in the direction of the museum. As he did, he accidentally sprayed an innocent women with the dark purple goop from down below the city. She did what any woman would in that situation and freaked out, storming out of the restaurant and her date.  
"Sorry…" Ray said quickly before getting back to the heart of the matter: the rivers of slime.

"God, you mean my museum?" Dana asked, putting her hand over her heart. It made sense in a way that everything was coming for place of work, but why? Was she just innocent in all this, or was the stuff coming after her and the baby?

Peter shifted in his seat, facing her quickly as out of the corner of his eye he saw the blue uniform of the NYPD. Typical.

"I was going to tell you between the dessert and the cheese course."  
"There they are!" The little rat of a maitre d' said to the police officer, pointing out the half naked scientist in the middle of his dinning room.

"You can never go back there again… You have to find a new job…" Peter tried to explain quietly, while the boys had other plans. They all began talking over each other again, explaining what the slime was in terms only a dictionary would understand, telling Peter and Dana about there grade-school fight, and even trying to explain how this stuff effects people psyche.

The police came up and grabbed Ray and Winston first from the table, Egon and Kitty last. Ray was needless to say, pleased to see them. "Oh good thing you're here!" Ray exclaimed before looking back to Peter. "We gotta see the mayor!"

The police lead them all away, all while they tried either talking to the police men, talking to each other, or talking over the other person; it was pure chaos.

Peter silently stepped away from the table, following closely to the police entourage that the boys and Kitty got while being lead out of the restaurant, leaving Dana alone at the table with more questions than answers.

* * *

Dana was disappointed to say the least. Her dinner with Peter didn't turn out quiet as planned but average for a date with Peter Venkman. Something would always go wrong in these situations that would need immediate attention, this time it was the boys.

She loved the boys, they'd helped out so much already with Zuul and Gozer, and they were even going out of their way to help with her slime business – but sometimes she just wished she'd been normal. That Peter was a normal scientist with beakers and a pocket protector. Deep down inside she knew that would have never worked out. Peter wouldn't have been happy with 'normal' and they might not have even met under 'normal' circumstances.

She put the key into the lock of Peter's apartment and turned he wrist as the door sprung open. The living room was dark, besides the bluish tint of the muted television. She flipped on a few of the lights as Louis popped up from the couch.

"Oh!" Louis squeaked, knocking over Peter's end table and kicking close to across the floor. His gelled hair a mess, his pale complexion covered in kiss marks of red lipstick. She smiled knowingly, the secret out on the two of them, acting like high school kids babysitting.

"Oh, Dana, we were just baby-sitting, honest,-"  
"Louis."  
"And we watched some TV and we had something to eat—"  
"Louis?"  
"And one thing led to another, and –"  
"That's okay, Louis." She assured him as she walked through the apartment.  
"I didn't know anything was gonna happen, really-" He kept trying to explain as she walked to the back room where Oscar was laying down for the night.  
She passed Janine briefly as she adjusting her dress, tying the ribbon-buttons she had on the front of her blouse.

"Hi, Dana. How was your date?"  
"Well, it wasn't a date. It was just dinner." Dana said, putting her purse and keys on the messy coffee table, littered with TV Guide magazines and pizza boxes.

"Where's Peter?"  
"Oh, he was arrested." She said with a sigh, feeling the sting of being left alone in the restaurant once more through re living the memory.

Janine smirked at the idea as she tied the ribbons up nicely on her blouse. "Typical."

"Did he call?" Dana asked wide eyed Louis as he shook his head.  
"No, nobody called."

She nodded her head, hoping to hear something from Peter by now on the parole of the Ghostbusters. "How's Oscar? Is he all right?"  
"Oh he's fine. Such a good baby!" Janine said, putting her hands on her hips. "He was a little fussy at first, but we just gave him some French bread pizza. Passed right out."

Dana paused a moment to imagine her small eight month old son gnawing on a piece of pizza, especially when he barely has any teeth to begin with.

"Good, good." Dana said, slightly stunned. "Well, I'll just give him a look-see."

With her heels slightly clicking along the hard wood floor, she was sure she'd waken him up. She opened the door slowly to find that he wasn't only asleep, but one of his babysitters was also asleep, propped up below the window sill. Angie leaned her head against the wall, her eyes closed as she snored lightly in the air. Dana hadn't woken either of them up yet, as she walked gently across the floor to see her little man.

Angie stirred in her sleep slightly before her eyes fluttered open at the sound of Dana entering the room. This didn't look too good as far as Angie could tell, but she'd done her job; babysitting both Oscar, and Janine and Louis. Angie sat up straight against the wall and smiled, waving at Dana as she couldn't quiet form words yet in her drowsy state. Dana just waved back before checking on her son who was fast asleep and had no intention of waking up anytime soon.

"Hi." Angie finally said, whispering low as to not to disturb little Oscar. "How was your night?"  
"Not bad." Dana said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Until the boys showed up at the restaurant. "  
"The boys?" Angie asked, shocked at those words. "_My_ boys?"  
"Yeah. Kitty was there too, but it was mostly the boys talking."  
"What? Why – why – why did they come to the restaurant?" Angie stuttered, trying to get her mind to wrap around the idea.  
"They said something about the river of slime. They said it was headed straight for the museum and that they were going to see the mayor." Dana recalled. "Ray was very excited about it."  
Angie smiled as she nodded her head. It sounded just like them. "Then what happened?"

"Then they got arrested."  
"Again?" Angie said a little louder than she wanted to, quickly covering up her mouth as Oscar stirred lightly in his sleep.  
Dana nodded. "Yes. I'm sure they'll be fine."  
"Why do you think Kitty was with them?" Angie said, trying to figure out the puzzle in her mind. Dana simply shrugged her shoulders at the idea, knowing nothing more than what she saw earlier this evening.

With a groan Dana stood up from the bed. "I think I'm going to get changed into something a little bit more comfy."  
"Good idea." Angie said as she stood from her place below the window pane, the joints in her body sounding like a Gatling gun as she stood up straight. Dana mashed her lips in between her teeth to stop herself from saying anything as Angie pointed to her.

"Don't you say a word." Angie threatened, expecting the same ridicule from being old as with anyone else. Dana just kept her mouth shut, pinching her lips as she made her way across the room to the bathroom while Angie walked to the door to the living room, hobbling along as her foot had fallen asleep.

"Angie." Dana stopped in the doorway, turning back around. Angie stopped just short of the living room and turned around with inquisitive look on her face. If anyone would understand, it would be Angie. They were in the same boat after all, both caring about a member of the Ghostbusters team.

With a sigh, Dana asked "Do you think this ever gets easier? Dating the boys, I mean." Angie crossed her arms over her chest as Dana continued.  
"I mean. Do you think they'll ever be a time when they won't get called off in the middle of a meal? Or be serious about real world stuff instead of the paranormal? Do you think it'll ever just be easy?"

Angie thought about her answer carefully, but in her heart she knew the answer.  
"No." She said, shaking her head. She watched as Dana slowly deflated.

"It'll never be easy. There are always going to be ghosts and they're always gonna want to catch them. They'll get called away; they'll be gone for long periods of time. It'll never be a nine-to-five job. It'll never be easy." Slowly, Dana began to deflate at the idea of normality disappearing. "But nothing worth having is easy."

Dana perked back up, looking to Angie as she stood there leaning against the door with a smile on her face. Dana somehow knew she was gonna say that, both feared and welcomed the speech as it was exactly what she needed.

"Thanks." Dana whispered as Angie nodded to her.  
"Now get dressed so you can help me throw Janine and Louis out." Angie said with a smile before leaving for the living room. Once the door to the bedroom was closed again, Dana heard Angie groan with agony as Louis and Janine had started making out again.

_"Oh, come on! Venkman eats at that table!"  
_

* * *

Other people making out is gross.  
That's why I didn't like that super bowl commercial with the hot girl kissing the nerd.  
Oh lawd, the _noises_!  
Where was I going with this?

I hope you enjoyed it!  
~pure.


	17. Big Man!

I do not own Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, or any referances to the Ghostbusters,  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

The Ghostbusters waited patiently for Mayor Lenny Clotch in his den at Gracie Mansion. After getting a nice ride in a police car on the way over here, they all just kind of lounged around the den, waiting for the busy mayor to make his appearance. Surely, he'd be glad to see them, Peter thought. Since their last meeting went so well. Come on! They beat Zuul, saved the girls, and even blew up a marshmallow man – what more could you want?

The only doors leading to the den opened and closed quickly, Mayor Lenny Clotch quickly worked his way into the den. He'd gotten older since their last visit – hell, they all had – but he looked extra rough. His thinning hair even thinner, his midsection even thicker; still the same scowl on his face as his beady eyes narrowed, eying the Ghostbusters. Even though last election he had run with a pro-Ghostbusters platform, he still didn't like the idea of the Ghostbusters barging into his house when ever the hell they pleased.

The Ghostbusters noticed the extra body in the room immediately, and reacted as such.

"Lenny!"

They all rang out with their own variations on the name. Kitty smiled brightly at the man in power, a little nervous as to meeting such a valuable part of New York City.

"Ghostbusters…" The Mayor groaned, feeling a headache come along. Winston was the first to make a move, extending his hand to the Mayor, hoping that they were all on good terms. The Mayor looked at Winston's hand like a foreign object, not touching, or even looking at it for too long.

The Mayor's eyes combed the room, groaning as he jumped from one Ghostbuster to another, before his eyes settled on a young woman he'd certainly met before. Lenny looked to her curiously, eying her closely as she looked incredibly familiar. "Have we met?" The Mayor asked, suspiciously eying her while racking his brain trying to figure out who she is.

"I don't think so, Mr. Mayor."  
"I'm pretty sure we have. Last time the Ghostbusters were here. You begged me to give them an audience."  
"I don't think that was me, sir."  
"How do you know?"  
"Because, at the time, I possessed by an ancient Sumerian dog that lived in my closet."

Lenny blinked a couple time, letting the random set of words sink. Peter walked over to the Mayor and Kitty, resting his arms around Kitty's shoulders. "You're thinking of her sister, Angie. She's the one that bailed us out. Kitty, here, was uh-… Indisposed."

Lenny didn't question Peter's elegant way of putting Kitty's status at the time and instead turned to questioning their attire. Kitty, with her He-Man tank up and brightly colored pants; it was a catalyst to notice the other Ghostbusters, dressed only in long john onesies.

"What is this, a pajama party?" The Mayor asked, earning a sniveling little giggle from Hardemeyer, the same asshole that almost had Kitty and them arrested. To say that Kitty didn't like him was an understatement and she wasn't alone. It was days like this they actually missed that little rat Peck.

The Ghostbusters began to talk over each other over the state of their clothing, making it hard for the Mayor to hear any one side of the argument or plea, or whatever the hell they were doing here late at night.

"Look, I don't wanna hear anything about it. You've got two minutes. Make it good." The Mayor said as he sat in a chair, looking across the coffee table to the Ghostbusters. While the majority took the couch, Peter, Kitty, Egon; Winston and Ray stood up towering over the New York Mayor.

With a cigar in his hand, Ray licked his lips nervously, noting everyone's eyes on him. He looked around nervously before beginning with a speech that he made up on the spot, hoping that it was good enough to convince the Mayor to help them.

"Well, first of all, Mr. Mayor it's a great pleasure to see you again, and we'd just like to say that almost fifty percent of us voted for you in the last election."  
"I appreciate that." The Mayor said, getting antsy with the whole presentation.

"I'm just sorry we always have to meet under these circumstances." Peter said with a smile.

"Mr. Mayor, we are here tonight because a psychomagnotheric slime flow of immense proportions in building beneath the city."

The Mayor blinked his eyes a few times.  
"Psycho-what?"  
"Psychomagnotheric-" Egon began, repeating the word that he guessed the Mayor had an issue with.  
"Big word. Big word."  
"Negative human emotions are materializing in the form of a viscous, psychoreactive plasm with explosive supernormal potential."

"Does anybody speak English here?" The Mayor pleaded. Winston stood up and walked to the Mayor's side, deciding he was going to tell them all about the slime in the easiest way possible.

"Yeah. Your Honor, see, what we're trying to tell you is like, all the bad feelings, all the hate, the anger and vibes of this city is turning into the sludge! Now, I didn't believe it at first either, but we just went for a swim in it and we ended up almost killing each other!"

"This is insane!" Little Hardemeyer said from his corner seat, having just about enough of the talk in the room. "I mean, do we really have to listen to this?"

Peter stood up from his spot on the couch and made his way over to Hardemeyer, flapping his hand in Hardemeyer's face as he asked "Can't you stop your lips from flapping for two little minutes?" Hardemeyer flipped at Peter, slapping his hand away from his face before Peter began with his speech, taking over where Ray fell short.

"Lenny, have you been out on the street lately? Do you know how weird it is out there? We've taken our own head count. There seem to be three million completely miserable assholes living in the tri-state area!"

"Oh please." Hardemeyer groaned, rolling his eyes in his head.  
"I beg your pardon. Three million and _one."  
"Hey!"_

"And what budgie-brain here doesn't realize is that if we don't do something fast, this whole place is gonna blow like a frog on a hot plate."  
"Yeah, right." Hardemeyer groaned, hearing just about enough of the plan, if you could call it that, from the Ghostbusters. Luckily, The Mayor didn't believe it either.

"What am I supposed to do? Go on television and tell ten million people that had to be nice to each other?" The Mayor said, standing up from the chair and wiping his hands with the discussion. He'd heard enough and it showed on the Ghostbusters's faces as they all sunk a little, except for Peter. With one last punch to the side from the Mayor, he turned around and said "Being miserable and treating other people like dirt is every New Yorker's God-given right. Your two minutes are up! Good-night, gentlemen."

As Lenny goes to leave the room, the Ghostbusters try a last ditch effort to try and convince him to stay and listen. New York was in danger and the only man that could help was turning a blind eye to the madness. The boys all jumped from where they were and followed the man to the closing door before Lenny slammed the door shut. To other people, this would have been a death sentence, for Peter Venkman it was an ace.

"Oh… the Times it gonna be interested in this – and you know the polls are gonna be down!" Peter said out loud, urging the guys to join him. If there was only one way to get to a Politian's heart it was through the media. The boys caught on quickly, shouting out headlines for the morning paper, the news outlet in Times Square, and maybe radio, if anybody still listened to the radio.

"Mayor Hides Slime?" Winston suggested, finding a niche that might work with the hungry press hounds around every corner.  
"'Times Square Slime'?"  
"Slime Square?"  
"Yeah, Slime Square!"  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Fine, fine, fine!" Hardemeyer tried to get the attention of the Ghostbusters from their brain storming session. The boys stopped for only a moment, waiting for whatever Hardemeyer had to say.

"Now, before you go running off to the newspapers with this, would you consider telling the slime business to some of our people downtown?"

Kitty eyed the man who had been scoffing and making fun of their proposal all night. He was the last person she'd thought who'd do anything to help them, and yet he extended an olive branch. She was nervous about it, but after looking over the boys faces, she seemed to be the only one.

"It's gotta be done right away." Peter said.

Four hours later he'd be regretting those words.

* * *

"Is, like, she the killer or what?" Janine asked from the comfort of Louis's arms. The four of them sat back and watched Citizen Kane, Janine and Louis cuddled up close together on the floor while Angie and Dana took to the couch, exchanging annoyed glances in between Louis's narration of the movie to Janine.

"No. That's Rita Hayworth. She was married to Citizen Kane while they were going this thing. Then right after they finished, she dumped him for some polo player." Louis explained the movie as Janine fed them some popcorn they had popped earlier. "I don't know why beautiful girls love horses so much. Do you love horses?"  
"No."

Dana looked at her thin wrist watch and noted the time as 'too late' o'clock. She understood that Janine and Louis wanted to stay behind, making sure her and the baby were okay, but they where fine! Oscar hadn't even woken up from his nap yet and she was home safe. There was no reason for them to stay over then they just simply didn't want to go home.

Angie also felt like she was imparting on Dana's alone time, but there was no way in hell that she was going to leave Dana alone with Janine and Louis. If, for whatever reason, she needed help kicking the two out then Angie would be only too glad to help. Angie's headache from that morning had come back in full force, her brain pounding against the skull with her pulse. She ignored the pain for now, but later she'd need some pain killers – fast!

"You know, you really don't have to stay. I'm sure Peter will be back soon." Dana said, looking up from her book for a moment to address the new couple in the living room.

"Oh, we don't mind." Louis said, oblivious to Dana's subtle plea for quiet. "Can you see okay?"

Sighing deeply, Dana nodded her head. "Yep."

Angie looked over to Dana, noting the annoyed look on her face. She leaned in closely, hoping that Louis and Janine didn't realize the two woman where talking.

"If you want, I'll grab Louis by the feet and you can get Janine." Angie hatched the evil plan to get them out of the apartment. "We'll just toss them out the window and hope for the best."  
Smiling lightly against her lips, Dana shook her head, the plan to rich for her tastes. Besides, they weren't completely terrible. They were only completely overstaying their welcome - Nothing terribly malicious.

Dana felt a cold chill run down her back out of nowhere it seemed. She felt it first through her kinky hair, then down the back of her neck as it slowly chilled her to the core. Something was wrong; her mother's intuition was acting up again, but for what reason? Oscar hadn't moved too far in a couple of hours – what could be so wrong?  
But her sickening feeling her stomach ached; the color ran from her face as she feared the worst. Something was wrong, and she just had to find out what it was.

In almost a trance like state, Dana put her book down on the coffee table and walked to the back bedroom where Angie had put little Oscar to bed. The floorboards creeks beneath her feet, showing the age of the building as she made her way to the back bedroom with worry still deep in her heart. Maybe it was a draft in the old apartment; maybe someone had left the window open somewhere – despite the would-be comforting ideas, something in the pit of her stomach told her that something was wrong.

Dana opened the bedroom door and peered in on the bed empty bed.

Oscar was gone.

"Oscar." Dana gasped at the empty bed. Pillows bunched around in a circle to ensure the child wouldn't be hurt hadn't done their job, the center of the circle of pillows was empty and Oscar was gone. This made no sense, how could this happen? Where could he go? He could barely crawl on his own, how could he just get up and leave?

Lightening cracked by the window, partially illuminating the apartment and the open window as the curtains blew without a care. Dana's eyes widened at the discovery as she dashed to the window, peeking her head out in the cold New York air.

"Oh, God! Oscar!" Dana shouted at the insane sight before her. Her young son was standing out on the ledge of Peter's apartment, his little legs stretched out and supporting himself as he gnawed on his fingers, looking out at the New York skyline.

This was insane!

"Angie! Louis!" Dana called out, all without taking her eyes off of her son as she climbed up on the ledge.

Louis jumped up immediately, hinting at the tone in Dana's desperate voice as he raced to the bedroom. "What?"  
"It's Oscar!" Dana shouted again before crawling hand over hand out on the ledge. Louis and Angie ran to the bedroom just in time to watch as Dana's foot escaped out of view. Pure curiosity got to them as both Louis and Angie peeked their heads' out the window, watching Louis hover several stories above the busy city.

Louis turned to Janine and shouted "Call 911 right now!" And Janine followed diligently, searching franticly for a phone.

Dana carefully crawled out on the cement ledge, trying her hardest not to look down at the busy city streets. She focused on her hand placement and her son as he stood completely still, despite the nasty wind of the penthouse apartment.

Oscar didn't budge, he didn't move; he didn't even cry as he just stood there outside in his Winnie the Pooh onesie.

Out of the horizon, Dana thought she'd just seen an airplane without its lights on over the busy city. As it got closer, the form began to take shape and it wasn't until it was almost on top of them that she noticed the form was that of an old nanny. The 18th century hair and buggy looked like a Mary Poppins reject as it flew through the nights sky. "Oh no!" Dana cried as she tried to get closer and closer, but always a step behind where she wanted to be.

As the form got closer, she could make out a cape fluttering behind her and a face of the little strange man that ran her department at the museum. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head as the ghost nanny got closer to the building, faster than Dana could ever go.

The form's eyes glow crimson, ignoring Dana's pleads from the ledge as its arm stretched out, grabbing young Oscar and placing him in the ghost buggy. "No! No! No!" Dana cried to the ghost, pleading heavily as Oscar began to cry in the buggy.

"NO!"

Like a bolt of lightening, the ghost nanny and the buggy with little Oscar in side screamed across the sky, fading back out into Uptown. Dana couldn't believe it; she stayed there for a moment thinking of what was going on and why the ghost wanted her baby. She was so close, and now Oscar was gone, taken by a ghost of all things.

She made her way back inside, still in a fog from the vision she's witnessed. Dana kicked her legs back into Peter's apartment, passed a stunned and confused Louis and Angie. "That was a ghost!" Louis stuttered, in shock himself over the sight. Angie thought she should be used to it, but was almost as shocked herself when she'd seen the little creep in the nanny costume.

"No, no, that was Janosz." Dana said as she walked through the apartment in a daze, Angie and Louis followed close behind.

"What's happening?" Janine asked as she got off the phone with the 911 who told her that a ghost nanny wasn't there jurisdiction and not to call again.  
"What should we do?"  
"Where's the baby?"

The gears in Dana's head were turning at a frantic pace, cranking out idea after idea of what could have happened to Oscar before it hit her. With everything that the boys said during diner about the museum and now Janosz stealing Oscar, there was only one place he could have gone.

"The Museum!" Dana shouted, grabbing her coat from the coat hanger beside the door, she quickly threw it over her shoulders. Angie gritted her teeth, knowing she was going to regret this but throwing caution to the wind as she grabbed her winter coat from around the kitchen chair. "I'm coming with." Angie said definitively as she slipped her arms through the sleeves of the coat. Dana didn't argue, just simply nodded as she grabbed her pocket book and made her way out the door.

"Where are you going?"  
"I've got to get my baby!" Dana shouted from the hallway before Angie closed the door behind them.

After the hustle and bustle from the kidnapping, the apartment seemed quiet again, this time eerie and unnerving. Louis looked to Janine with worry in his eyes, they couldn't do much by simply sitting here and twiddling their thumbs. They needed action, they needed help.

"We've gotta find the guys."

* * *

Sorry it's been a while since I've updated.  
Lots on my mind as of late. My worries and doubts can't seem to take a hint and let me work.  
But enough bitching - time to get to work.

I hope you enjoyed!  
~pure.


	18. Flip City

I don't own Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, or even a proton pack!  
I do, however, own Kitty and Angie, and Remy Safar.

* * *

Kitty rested her tired head against the cool metal table, silently cursing Peter for trusting Hardemeyer. That little snake hadn't lied, per say, but he didn't help them like they'd thought. The people down town consisted of a group of men in white uniforms forcing them into straight jackets and making them swallow a variety of rainbow pills that would calm them.

Kitty was left alone again. After hours of protesting, beating on the padded walls and screaming her lungs out, she had given up and simply waited to be let out of her padded cell. The pillow-y walls gave little comfort as she wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling her knees close to her body and silently rocking back and forth. From the outside she looked crazy, from the inside she was screaming for release. Someone let me go, get me out of here – save me!

No one seemed to listen, or if they did they were plugging their ears and going 'lalalalalala!'

It was easily three hours before anybody came to get her, opening the cushy door and letting light in on the dark room. The silhouette in the doorway simply told her "Come on. We've got your friends." She was only too eager to follow him out of the dark room and to her friends.

And that's how she got there. Her head resting on the cold metal table as it cooled her burning forehead.

Ray was tired of the consent questioning, his arms crossed abruptly across his chest as he leaned back in his chair, sighing deeply.  
"As I explained before," Ray spat, getting exhausted with the entire process. "We think that spirit of 16th century Moldavian tyrant is alive and well in a painting at the Manhattan Museum of Art."

The uninterested psychologist tapped off the ashes from his burning cigarette as he nodded along, ignoring the details of Ray's explanation of the fifth time that night. He simply raised an eyebrow at the man, sighing deeply before he asked "And are there any other paintings in the museum with bad spirits in them?"

"You're wasting valuable time!" Egon groaned, getting tired quickly at the notion that this psychologist didn't care. He was simply there to make sure that the boys didn't kill themselves while inside and risk a stupid lawsuit.  
"He's drawing strength from a psychomagnotheric slime flow that's been collecting under the city."

"Yes, tell me about the slime." He groaned, ignoring the big words and simply reacting to the words he could understand.

"It's very potent stuff. We made a toaster dance with it."  
"A toaster."  
"And a bathtub tried to eat his friend's baby." Winston tried to explain. The Doc simply wasn't getting it. He looked over to Peter, who, like Kitty, rested his head on the cold table, lifted his tired head. His hair went in different ways, his eyes tired from the questions and nonchalant replies to their pleas. With the questioning look to Peter, the scientist simply shook his head.

"Don't look at me; I think these people are completely nuts."

* * *

The iconic yellow taxi pulled up the monstrous building of the Manhattan Museum of Art and screeched to a halt. The two woman inside paid the taxi driver, telling him to keep the change before they both made their way to the Museum. The Taxi pulled away, getting the hell out of Dodge, as Dana and Angie began their ascent up the massive staircase. Dana walked up first, determined to make her way up the stairs while grasping to the railing. Her eyes focused only on the doors to the museum and what was behind it.

Dana had been quiet on the cab ride over to the museum, saying less than three words to both Angie and the driver combined. Her mind was busy with the multiple questions that had to swirling at the time. Oscar was concern number one, and of course he should be. It had to hard for Dana to see her son being stolen by a ghostly apparition of her coworker – shit like that doesn't happen on a daily basis.

Angie and Dana climbed the staircase, ignoring the wild wind seemingly trying to stop them from entering the museum. Whipping around them in frenzy, it seemed like they had entered a wind tunnel before making their way over to the front doors of the museum. Dana pushed them open like she had multiple times before. This time she wasn't there to work, she was there to simply get her son back.

Angie closed the door behind her, the large doors behind her slamming shut shouldn't have been cause for alarm, but the slamming caused a chill to run down Angie's back.

Once inside the museum, the slime had control. It climbed the concrete walls of the museum, covering the tall pillars, the insane stairs and the cute little cherubs that covered the outside walls. It climbed up the walls and incrusted itself around the building, giving the building an outer shell that couldn't be penetrated. Once inside, the girls couldn't escape without Lord Vigo letting them out.

Dana ran straight to the restoration room, where the Vigo painting was held and where she knew that if anywhere, Janosz would be there with Oscar. Her mother's intuition was right. Coming across the restoration room, converted to a makeshift altar to the one and only Lord Vigo. Candles encircled the painting of Lord Vigo posing regally in front of the town that he dominated and plundered. In the center of the altar laid a small bed, a regal purple pillow where he laid, unharmed and unaffected by the change from his mother's arms to the strange foreign mans altar.

Dana stepped over the candles, making sure not to catch her coattails on fire, making her way over the pillow and grabbing her child. "Oscar… Sweetheart…" Dana cooed, swooping her young child into her arms and holding him close. "Oh, I thought I'd lost you." She said, swaying back and forth on her feet. Little Oscar smiled at his mother and her friend as they both diligently looked over the child, looking for any marks or scars. No sacrificial markings and no satanic branding on his skin or clothes; he was good.

"Oh, baby…" Dana cooed, holding her child close to her body, ignoring the small little man as he made his way out of the shadows. Timidly and almost second guessing his decision, he walked up to the candles that illuminated his face. He looked different without the Mary-Popins dress up.

"Hello, Dana." He said, causing both Dana and Angie to jump at the sound of the extra voice in the would-be vacant room. "I thought that you might come."  
"You stay away from us, Janosz. I mean it." Dana warned as the two of them backed away slowly. Making sure to step over the candles once more, Dana and Angie slowly made their way back to the front doors where they would be safe from Vigo and Janosz.

"Oh, don't worry, he will not be harmed! He has been chosen to be the vessel of the spirit of Vigo. And you will be the mother of the ruler of the world!" Janosz said, a sinister glint in his eye as he talked about Vigo as some sort of savior. "Doesn't that sound nice?"

"No. It sounds ludicrous." Dana said, backing away from the painting of Vigo and his heavy-accented lackey. "You stay away from him. I mean it."

"Well, I don't think we have a choice here. Take a look – it's not Gainborough's 'BlueBoy', there. Heh, heh. He is Vigo!"

"I don't care who he is!" Dana and Angie turned to leave this wretched place for ever. "You're not going to take my baby!-"

Oscar was pulled from Dana's grip around the small child's yellow onesie as both Dana and Angie where blown backwards to the hallway. Dana screamed loudly as she fought against the invisible force that had knocked both women into the hallway before the force closed the security doors, locking Dana and Angie out of the restoration room.

Dana scrambled to the barred security door and watched from behind the cold metal separators her child hovering in mid air. Slowly, as if with the most grace of a Moldavian tyrant, Oscar was lead back to the pillow in front of the painting of Vigo by the same force that had so violently pushed Dana and Angie into the hallway in the first place. Oscar didn't make a sound, barely cooing at the sensation before he was laid back down on the pillow, his mother cursing from behind bars. "Oh, you bastard!"  
Vigo's straight face didn't even budge.

* * *

From beneath the street, an ancient evil came bubbling to the surface. The cherry colored slime crawled up the cracks of the asphalt to begin its long awaited terror on the city of Manhattan. Bubbling with the sewer system, it showed its presence in all still water and took no prisoners. With the slime tunnel, known previously as the Van Horne Pneumatic Transit system, flowing without restraint, it quickly spread all over Manhattan, terrorizing the residents in epic proportions.

Globs of the slime fell from a marquee for the 1973 cult-classic 'Cannibal Girls' as it's audience rushed out into the streets. Mobs of people fled to the street, tripping over each other and spilling their seven dollar popcorn. Screaming and cowering in fear, the mob ducked as the purple specter swooped back over the crowd, roaring from its gut at the innocent people before flying off into the nights sky to terrorize someone else.

In Uptown, a woman claimed that her coat ran down the street on its own, three people confirmed. The minks on her coat seemingly coming back to life while the woman wore the coat. In fear for her life she took the coat off quickly and threw it on the ground before watching her coat scamper off down the street.

People dived out of the cars in the middle of traffic, pedestrians on the street made their way into the closest building to hide near Victory Arch. Pandemonium as the people fled from the arch as the ugly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle growled at the small people below as a phantom crawling through the Victory Arch in Madison Square.

Park benches chasing people in Battery Park; skeleton dinosaurs scaring people on Central Park West ; and even people saying that the Titanic has just shown up at Pier 34, letting off the apparitions of the people who had lost their souls in the iceberg crash of 1912 – it was insanity and no one in power was doing anything.

* * *

The men working at city hall had worked through the night and into the next day while the city burned around them. With papers and files, and even a pie chart made up, they couldn't figure out what to do. Every time they thought that they had something down, something new would happen that would throw a spiritual monkey wrench into things. The men of their respective branches of government and public safety had worked tirelessly through the night, as evidence from the thick dark circles under their eyes, the yawns escaped from their mouths when they went to speak and the hundreds of cups of coffee that plagued the meeting room.

For every ghostly event reported, they put another peg into a map of the island of Manhattan. In the beginning this sounded like a good idea, but now as it reached the evening hours the map was now covered in pegs from Inwood and Washington Heights to Little Italy and Battery Park and everywhere in between.

"The battery is swamped! We've had more than three thousand calls since midnight last night!" The Fire Chief exclaimed, his 'I Heart NY' coffee cup in hand as he got a nod of sympathy from the new head of the EPA.

"We've had to remain in uniform on the streets, and I am still short-handed. We've had meter maids chasing ghosts all over midtown." The police commissioner said, the beautiful intern beside him nodding along as she handed him his coffee.

In the center of this madness, Hardemeyer sat at the meeting table, looking over proposal after proposal of how to fix this and turned each one of them down for their sheer stupidity. None of these plans seemed to work and they were running out of precious time.

Public Works Official leaned over the meeting table, handing Hardemeyer another piece of information about the ghosts, this time about a singular building that was targeted out of all the others to be covered in a thick glob of supernatural pink slime.

"There's this shell thing over the Manhattan Museum of Art. We can't make a dent!"

"Have you tried dynamite?" Hardemeyer snapped, a little cranky. The Official retreated, muttering to himself "We've tried everything."

The doors to the meeting room opened abruptly to the sound of the flashing of cameras and the numerous questions by the press as Mayor Clotch walked through the doors. Everyone jumped; the man who could help was finally here, someone over Jack Hardemeyer and had actually dealt with this kind of thing before.

"What the hell is going on?" The Mayor shouted, causing little Hardemeyer to jump up from his seat. "It's pandemonium out there!"

"Yes, I know, we're working on it!" Hardemeyer said, trying his best not to sound like they had just been pissing into the wind all night.  
"Great. While you're working on it I'm going down in history as the mayor who let New York get sucked down into the tenth level of hell!" the Mayor paused to gasp for air. Exasperated ad out of options, the Mayor threw his hands up. "All right, we've got no choice. Call the Ghostbusters."

"Wait!" Hardemeyer shouted, earning a little bit more time to think without those pseudo scientists with the lasers come back and possibly ruin the Mayor's chance at reelection. Making his way across the meeting room like the snake is his, Hardemeyer lowered his voice as he suggested "I'm sure there's a better way."  
"Jack, I spent an hour last night in my bedroom talking to Fiorello LaGuardia and he's been dead for forty years. Now where are the Ghostbusters?"

Jack had to fess up, otherwise someone else was going to tell the Mayor, possibly with a devious spin on it to make him seem like a bad guy.  
"Uh… They're not available."

Mayor Lenny Clotch must not have heard him right. "What do you mean, they're not available?"  
"Well, I had them committed to the psychiatric ward at Parkview Hospital."

Lenny stood there stunned at what his assistant told him. The words just simply didn't register that someone would do something so out of the box cuckoo that he must be hearing things again. Maybe Mayor LaGuardia followed him to work this morning.

"You what?"

"They were threatening to the go to the press! I was protecting your interests!" Hardemeyer tried to defend himself.  
"Oh yeah?!" Mayor Lenny chased him around the meeting room a little as the little weasel walked backwards in fear of the mayor, his good intentions lost on the raging Italian.

"Well, you can stop protecting my interests. You have exactly three minutes to clear out. You're fired!"  
"But – the election!" Hardemeyer protested but his pleads fell on deaf ears.

"Harry, remove this man from the building." The Mayor ordered as the Acting Sheriff grabbed Hardemeyer by the forearm, dragging the unemployed man out by force. "—and get me the Ghostbusters!"

"Mr. Mayor?" The Mayor's Aide called from the window, pulling the power hungry politician from his firing spree to see the newest development on the streets faster than any poll or even police report. "Come take a look at this."

The sky of Manhattan had turned dark. The afternoon sky was covered in a dark blue and purple cloud that hovered over midtown. Lightening strikes and an unearthly growling came form the mass of clouds as the morphed and multiplied over the sky, blocking out the sun as it got darker and darker over the New York skyline until it has completely blocked out the sun. The sunny streets, despite being ravaged by man-hungry park benches, were dark once more.

The officials all stared out the window in awe of the view before them. As if the task of saving New York from diving deeper into an abyss wasn't daunting enough.  
"Somebody get me the Ghostbusters."

* * *

_FUN FACT!:_ The movie at the theater during the 'Flip City' scene was actually 'Cannibal Girls', a 1973 low-budget movie staring Eugene Levy and directed by Ivan Reitman, the director for Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. They implemented a bell system that when a gruesome or overly sexual scene was about to happen they'd ring a bell in the movie, giving you enough time to cover your eyes in the movie theater.

And the doctor uninterested in the Ghostbusters is really Bill Murray's older brother, Brian.  
He and Harold Ramis wrote_ Caddyshack together__ (and he even has a bit part as the boss of the caddies)_

~pure.


	19. Day-o!

I do not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

Kitty was alone again in her padded cell. With her knees pulled close to her chest, she sat in the dark and waited until the doctors would let her out again. It was dangerous to be in your mind, no outside stimulation to keep you company. In the dark it's only you and your thoughts, and what ever monsters your brain conjured.

Though her eyes couldn't see anything, her mind played with the absent shapes on the walls, making it seem like she wasn't alone. Surely she was alone – she knew she was alone. Kitty had nothing to occupy her time, nothing to keep her mind from taking the shapes around her and turn them into monsters.

Her thoughts went back to a simpler time back when she and Angie were younger, five or so. Their parents would take them out shopping against their wills. After kicking and screaming didn't work in the public eye, the sisters would use a more humorous side to getting their parents to leave. Instead of screaming and saying 'I wanna go home!' the girls would simply start signing, off key if I might add the Harry Bellefonte song _'Day-O_.

It would annoy their parents to the point when it was simply better to leave than to deal with the singing and the stares from random people.

If it wouldn't annoy the doctors hold her hostage, it would at least give her some added entertainment until they wanted to ask her redundant questions again.

"_Day-o. Day-o.  
Day light come an' me wan' go home.  
Day, me say day, me say day,  
Daylight come and me wan' go home."_

Nothing from behind the door. Not even a rumble of the door handle or the lock from the outside. Clearly, Kitty would have to sing louder.

"_Come, mister Tally man, tally me banana,  
Daylight come and me wan' go home.  
Come, mister Tally man, tally me banana,  
Daylight come and me wan' go home._

With every verse Kitty would sign a little higher, even to the point of screaming the lyrics against the padded room. Not the best on acoustics, but it would surely get her message across. Kitty stood on her own two feet, leaning against the wall for support as she continued to sign the lyrics with the hopes that they might see the daylight and let her go home. It was a long shot, but something had to make them snap before she did.

_Lift six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch!  
Daylight come and me wan' go home.  
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch!  
Daylight come and me wan' go home."_

She'd once sung this song for four hours straight; she was prepared to do it again.

_"Day, me say day-o,  
Daylight come and me wan' go home.  
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day-o,  
Daylight come and me wan' go home."_

She began to hear scurrying around the door, the sound of rubber soled shoes on white linoleum while men with deep voices talked over each other filled the void in the air in between verses. This encouraged the alone and scared woman to stand up to her captors, singing louder than she ever had before.

"_COME MISTER TALLY MAN, TALLY ME BANANA!  
DAYLIGHT COME AND ME WAN' GO HOME!  
COME MISTER TALLY MAN, TALLY ME BANANA!  
DAYLIGHT COME AND ME -!"_

The door on her cell opened abruptly, the silhouette of the doctor staring down at her made her nervous but also angry. How he could look down on her like an animal in the zoo. She was caged like an animal and if she was any other woman, she would have gone off on him like a lioness in the wilds of Africa.  
Unfortunately for her, she was more like her namesake as far as furiousness went.

"Katherine Reed?" A voice, far different than the condescending doctor's said as he stood in the doorway. This new voice was higher pitched, squeaky, almost prepubescent in its tone. Kitty nodded, lost for words for what was going on as the shadow offered his hand to the woman standing against the pillow-y wall.  
"Your friends are waiting out here." He explained quickly, before another silhouette popped its head into the doorway.

"Thanks, Sherman." Peter's voice erupted from the doorjamb. "What, you just gonna stand there? Come on, we've got work to do!"  
Kitty stood there stunned. What the hell was going on?  
The Peter shaped silhouette pocked his head out again, casting a shadow over the young woman's face. "By the way, nice pipes you've got there."

Kitty could feel herself tense up and blush at the same time before running to the door just short of the doorjamb. Peter' features began clearer as she got closer and the same was for the doctor next to him that she didn't know. Her face hurt from smiling as Peter moved out of the way and down the hallway, quickly jogging down the white corridor and passed the double door at the end. Kitty followed closely, her rubber soled slippers squeaking lightly against the clean linoleum.

* * *

Louis filed them in - who Kitty promptly hugged upon setting eyes on the annoying former neighbor – about Dana's condition and what had happened the previous night. So many things had happened so quickly that Louis was simply afraid of missing anything vital, so he started at the beginning. He told them about putting Oscar to sleep and the French bread pizza, and then he told them about watching Citizen Kane, and then told them about the creepy ghost nanny.

Quickly changing out of the hospital garb for something a little bit more comfy, the Ghostbusters busted through the double doors leading to the loading dock of the hospital, Louis following along their coat tails.

"And he took the baby into the carriage, and it levitated away!"  
"What'd Dana do? Where'd she go?" Peter asked, straight seriousness in his voice as he was done playing around.  
"I don't know. She said she was going to the museum to get the baby back! And Angie went with her, and there was an eclipse, and the whole town went dark, and everybody's nuts!"  
"It all fits!" Ray exclaimed as they marched their way through the hospital. "Vigo wants in on the 21st century. He needs a human body to inhabit. Little Oscar must be it!"  
"Yeah, and I bet we're the only ones who can do anything about it, right?" Winston asked with a grin on his face as he zipped up his grey jumpsuit.  
"You bet we are!" Peter shouted behind him, hard determination in his voice. He was upset, he was angry, he was pissed – and rightfully so. Some 16th century creep thinks he could just move in on his girl? Not gonna happen.

* * *

Making their way through the streets of a haunted Manhattan was actually easier than it sounds. Avoiding the abandoned cars, the streets were relatively clear as Ray, with his driving privileges back, navigated through the streets with ease. The empty streets gave an eerie feeling to the world around them. So much had changed in the hours that they had been locked away. It looked like an apocalyptic film right after the zombies attack.

The museum, however, was far from empty. People that had once been crowding the streets or returning that ugly sweater aunt Mildred brought them were all standing outside of the Manhattan Museum of Art, blocked off by the police barricade. Different members of the press had shown up as well, all exploding with delight as soon as they caught a glimpse of the dying white hearse. The crowds had erupted in applause and cheering, some even chanting 'Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters!' – Just like the good ole days.

Ray put the car in park and shut off the engine, killing the sick sounding engine before it backfired in front of the press. The boys all looked wearily at Kitty, none of them wanting to say what they all had to say. Some bit their lips, some looked down at their feet, but Peter seemed unaffected by al of this 'extra pressure' the boys put on themselves.  
"Kit," Peter said, turning around from the front seat of the Ecto-One to the back, facing Kitty who looked around the scene before here with child-like enthusiasm. "You won't be able to come with up on this bust."  
"I know."  
"I just think it's better for – what?" Peter stumbled over his words. He had planned out this whole long speech about 'finding your place' in life and 'following the wind' or some hippy crap. Kitty just smiled sweetly at the boys. "You guys had brought me along on so much – and put me in a lot of danger. I can't ask you risk both of our necks again. I'll stay behind and… Play PR person or something. Talk you up to all the cameras. Seriously, I'm fine."

Peter and Ray shared roughly the same look. A part of them was glad she understood, but didn't quiet feel right about doing something like this without her. She'd been along for the beginning of the ride so far, it would have only made sense for her to come along with the final moments of Vigo the Carpathian.

"Okay." Peter said, shaking off the feelings he decided weren't real. "Time to save Dana and the baby."  
"And Angie, right?" Kitty asked with an extra glare from Ray. With a reluctant sigh, Peter nodded "Fine. _And Angie_ – Alright? Let's go."

The boys exited the Ecto-One to their adoring audience. Peter, always the one for PR at a time like this, was in no mood to deal with the public. Manhattan had gone to hell while they were gone; it was about time that they took it back.

The museum itself was covered in a dark purple shell of ecto slime. The candy-coated the museum radiated evil as it almost pulsated through the air. The slime moved up the exterior of the stone building, giving a big middle finger to physicists everywhere as it defied gravity.

"It looks like a giant Jell-o mold." Ray said in awe of the sheer mash of the object covering the building. From behind him he heard a groan – "I hate Jell-O"

Peter smirked; the annoying, wise-cracking Peter back with us once more. "Oh come on," Peter pleaded, staring at the shell covering his girlfriend and her place of work. "There's always room for Jell-o."

* * *

Inside the museum, Angie leaned against the stone walls of the restoration room, nursing her back and her ongoing headache. From the background she watched as Dana stalked the gates, Janosz following behind, still trying to make his case on why they should be together. It had never accord to the strange man that kidnapping the woman's child might not make her panties drop. No over, he largely ignored the part where her boyfriend would be coming after him with a vengeance.  
Janosz followed closing behind Dana's footsteps from the other side of the security gates, pleading his case to the young woman.

"Soon it will be midnight and the city will be mine and Vigo's! Well… Mainly Vigo's." The small man exclaimed; grasping his hands together dramatically as visions of doom and destruction filled his heads like sugarplums might in a normal person.  
"Oh, Dana, you and I have this terrific opportunity! To make the best of this relationship."  
"We don't have a relationship." Dana said bluntly.

"I know!" Janosz exclaimed, falling to his knees as he clung to the gates. "Marry me, Dana. Together we will raise Vigo as out son!" Janosz had to pause to give him self enough time to breath, and to gather the saliva that was collecting in a pool in his mouth over the excitement.

"And let me tell you something here, there are many perks in being the mother of a living god. Sure we could get you a magnificent apartment, car, free parking…"  
Slowly, the smart talking artist rose to his feet with his promises of the future. Dana was fast to react; hatching a plan between her ears that Angie only wished that she could have been a part of. Janosz unlatched the gates, pulling open the security gate and holding it open.

"Many marriages begin with a certain amount of distance. I think that perhaps you and I could maybe learn to… love each other?"

Angie watched carefully the exchange between Dana and Janosz as Dana's eyes hazed over in a faux-romantic haze. She lowered her tone, her defenses seemingly down as she batted her eyes at the cruel painting of Vigo.  
"Yes, I could _learn_." Dana said, as she snaked her way through the gates and boom. She was on the other side. Angie watched as Dana had played the system that Vigo and Janosz had set up. Angie only wished she was _that_ smart as Janosz lowered his guard, letting Dana get closer to her daughter.

Janosz was sucked in under Dana's spell; the state of Vigo was a different story. Surely, he'd be harder to woo.

* * *

"Pull 'em!" Ray shouted over the excited crowd as the boys all grabbed the wand from their proton pack. Checking the specs, Egon told the four Ghostbusters to use full nutronas on a psychomagnatheric slime ball this size. In small dose and in small scale, they worked great but Dr. Spengler had never tried to have the slime attach itself to the outside of a Manhattan landmark.

Kitty watched from behind the line of police cars with the rest of the crowd, nervously shivering in the December air as she silently prayed to any God that would listen that they would all be safe. She intertwined her fingers together and slightly bounced up and down, the hospital PJ's they had given her great insulation in the cold. She must have looked strange in the manner she was staying, but she couldn't care with her eyes on the boys and her thoughts in the clouds.

"Let's cook!" Ray shouted, pulling the protonus wand from the back. The proton packs buzzed loudly as the concentrated positive charged particles attacked the negatively charged slime. The two forces collided in a spectacular lightshow for the audience around them that waited for the Ghostbusters to save the day.

The orange energy stream hit the dark purple slime shell over the Museum, zapping it and almost burning it, but it didn't go anywhere. It didn't decrease at all. It stayed – possibly even began to multiply.

With a grimace, Ray shut off the proton pack, his shoulders dropping in disappointment. Biting his bottom lip, he sighed heavily. "Save 'em."

The crowd behind them, behind the barricades and police cars, began to boo. Disappointment was in the air as the people

They're shoulders dropped with the anguish of there only plan not working. It hadn't even made a dent in the slime and they were running out of steam. With the crowd behind them booing and shouting obscenities at them, needless to say it didn't help moral.

"That slime mold is pulsing with evil." Egon said, catching his breath from the 'battle' with the slime vs. proton pack where round one went to slime. "It would take a tremendous amount of positive energy to crack that shell and I seriously doubt there's enough goodwill left in this town to do it."

A defeated Ray rested on the Ecto-One behind them, trying to think of a way out of this. But when Egon said something about a lack of goodwill, the ever positive and sickening optimistic Ray bounced right back up, ready to defend this flea-ridden town.

"You know, I just can't believe things have gotten so bad in this city that there's no way back. I mean, sure, it's dirty, it's crowded, it's polluted, it's noisy and there's people all around who'd just as soon step on your face as look at you. But come on! There's got to be a few sparks of sweet humanity left in this burned-out burg and we just have to find a way to mobilize it."

"He's right." Egon said, his eyes wandering around the scene before them. "We need something that everyone in this town can get behind, we need…" Egon's eyes drifted towards the license plate of the Ecto-One when inspiration struck like a bolt of lightening. "A _symbol_."

Ray's curiousity got the best of him when he followed Egon's sight right down to the bright yellow license plate. "Something that appeals to the best in each and every one of us."  
"Something good." Egon's monotonous voice spoke over the crowds before they began to die down.  
"Something decent." Winston said, following their eye sight down to the very 'symbol' they'd been thinking.

"Something _pure_." Venkman was shocked with his own words. In his head, he began to think of all the way that they could, in Ray's words, 'mobilize it.' In a flash, it seems, they had all come up with a brilliant idea, not one similar to the other. But, regardless, all four of them made their way to the Ecto-One, forgetting one person in particular.

Kitty ran through the crowd, elbowing people out her way like the New Yorker she always knew she could be, and made her way to the Ecto-One as Ray started up in the engine.  
"What the hell are you doing?" Kitty asked into Ray's open window. "Aren't you supposed to save the day?"  
"We left the coffee pot on at the house – we'll be right back!" Peter resorted through Ray's open window. Ray's simply rolled his eyes before turning to the sister. "It's too dangerous, I think we'd all feel better if you didn't come along on this one."  
"Yeah," Peter said from the back seat, wrapping his arms around the form head rest of the driver's seat, pulling himself to the front. With a wicked smirk on his face, Peter said "It's too dangerous for you to come along with us to_ Liberty Island and possibly save the day _– no way, no how!"

His slip up didn't seem to be on accident, as Peter judged Ray's expression as he turned from concerned to annoyed. But it was Ray's fault, he should've expected that.

Kitty smiled brightly at Peter, silently thanking him before Ray turned on the Ecto-One's siren, warning the innocent citizens to get out of the way.

* * *

Thanks to gracebass for pushing me through this chapter.  
I've just been super lazy recently, so I really needed that.  
I hope you enjoyed it!

~pure.


	20. Statue at Liberty Island

I don't own Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson, or anything really.  
I own Angie and Kitty Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

On Liberty Island stood the most iconic statue in American history, the pale green-copper state stood with her right arm high in the air holding onto a golden torch. How many people, coming to this new world looking for a better life for their families, say this magnificent statue, watching over them as they finished the last of their journey to America. It as an American Icon if there ever was one, something that people could get behind it times of need.

Standing high above their heads at 151 feet, the Statue of Liberty looked over the Hudson proudly, seemingly unaware of what four scientist and a house cleaner where about to do.

Looking up at the blue-green patina of the statue, the Ghostbusters stood in silence, admiring the look of the beauty of Ellis Island. Each other them having different thoughts running through their heads on the impact of the statue itself, the symbolism behind it, the history of the statue itself.

Kitty had to imagine what it must have been like for the thousands of people that emigrated over from other European countries, looking to America for a better life. It must have been scary to pack up all of their things for a chance – not even a guarantee – that they'd have a better life. The pure bravery that some of these people had.

"It really makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Peter said, breaking the respectful silence between them all.  
"About what?"  
"Whether or not she's naked under that toga." Venkman said, killing the reflective mood between them all as he earned a tired look from Kitty. "She's French. You know that."  
"Yeah," Kitty said as the boys began to make their trek up to the statue itself.  
"The French don't shave. You know that." Kitty remarked quickly, leaving Peter at the base of Liberty Island as he silently gagged on the idea.

* * *

The inside of the statue was incredible. Inside the green statue of freedom was an entire empty cavity, where people over the years would do work on the beauty to keep her in pristine condition; Just enough room for four guys in slime throwers – and one girl trying to help as best as she could – could move around safely, prepping the copper body for its venture. Against Kitty's best wishes, Egon climbed up on one of the steel rafters inside, wrapping cords and wire around the rafter before hooking it to a large PA system, similar to the ones at school.

"Ready with the speakers, Ray. Slime blowers ready."

Ray checked over the electric, making sure they had enough power to do what they needed to do. With the proton packs running on nuclear power, he thought it would work just as well on the national monument. But, just incase, every one knew to back away from the generators if things got… Hectic. "Internal audio, set." Ray said, flipping a switch on the generators and studio system. "Internal electric, set."

Winston strapped himself into the slime blower that Egon had worked on since finding out the slimes kinetic prowess. The large scuba-tank like devices held a good 20 lbs. of slime, which with the nozzle that Egon had created, would be sure to cover this bad-boy in no time.  
"Slime blower, prime, set."

Peter climbed down from the staircase, skipping down two steps at a time. He caressed the steel slime blower on Winston's back, giving off good feelings if he ever had any. "Oooh. Good slime, good slime." He cooed to the psychomagnatheric slime. He could have sworn he felt a spark in there. "Winston, is our slime in a good mood tonight?"  
"I hope so." Winston said, looking over the sheer size of the Statue. "She's a lot bigger than a toaster."

Egon, to the relief of Kitty as she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, climbed down off of the rafters, silently entertained by Kitty's worrisome attitude. He handed Peter the microphone that they had set up to the loud speakers. "It's all yours, Venkman."  
"Thank you." Peter took the microphone from Egon's hand quickly and turned to the staircase once more, climbing to the crown while playing with the microphone. "Testing, one, two, testing. Hey how many of your people out here are a national monument, raise your hand please. _Oh, hello, miss!"_  
Kitty and Egon followed up, both shaking their heads at Venkman as he continued to 'check' the speaker system. "You just had to give him the mic, didn't you?" Kitty groaned, getting a quick cackle from Egon as the three of them made their way to the crown of the Statue of Liberty.

Winston and Ray stayed down below, both primed with slime blowers on each of their backs and a blower in their hands.

"Hey." Winston said, getting Ray's attention as he lit up a cigar. "Let's frost it."  
Ray smiled with the fat rolled tobacco between his teeth. "It's slime time." He said as he clinked both his and Winston's slime blowers together, toasting one another and hoping to god that it works.

The slime took a while to charge up, but once it started the slime flowed through like a dream, painting the walls of the Statue of Liberty with the thick, paste-like slime. Winston took one side; Ray took the other, hoping to cover more ground with the slime as it covered everything. The walls were a given, but the banisters, the rafter, even the speakers. Ray tried to stay away from the nuclear reactor that they had set up for electronic purposes – but other then that, the entire inside of the Statue of Liberty was getting a nice coat of mood slime.

* * *

Looking out of the crown on the statue of liberty, Kitty was in awe of the sight. All of New York was in a tizzy, worrying over ghosts and/or the New Year about to spring, ignoring the fact that they live in the greatest city in the world. Even with the chaos that the 16th century Moldavian tyrant brought forth, it was still beautiful; the purple, blue and yellow lights reflecting off of the water of the Hudson, giving the city a beautiful effect.

Kitty was the only one to reflect on the sights before her as Ray and Winston followed up quickly up the staircase, the clinking of the heavy metal canisters ringing out their whereabouts like echolocation before they reached the top of the stairs. With Angie's Nintendo SNES control in hand, specially modified to control large national monuments, Ray flicked the switch to the controls; Libby was now a remote controlled.  
"Pilot controls ready."

Like the brain effects the body, different buttons of the controlled would 'zap' different parts of the statue with a little extra current, making the react differently/the way they wanted.  
"All right. It's getting late." Egon said, looking down at his watch as the minute hand got ever closer to the 12 mark on the dial. "It's almost midnight. Let's go, Venkman."

Sounding like a morning DJ - you know, the kind you want to punch in the face for being so happy in the morning – Venkman grabbed onto the microphone and began with his best Kasey Kasem voice.

"Here's something off the request line from Liberty Island! We're gonna squeeze some New Year's juice from ya, Big Apple!"

Kitty's job was simple, push down on the play button on the walkman and wait. She pushed the play button, the cassette inside began to roll the tape and Jackie Wilson's song 'Higher and Higher' began to play out over the speakers.

"_Your love,  
Keep on lifting me,  
higher and higher (higher)"_

Nothing happened. Just like the toaster, Kitty guessed, it needed some time to warm up to the tune.

"_I said your love,  
Keep on lifting me  
Lifting me,  
Higher and higher (higher)"_

Kitty could almost hear the sound of the slime reacting, the zapping and bubbling of the slime as it reacted positively to the song. Kitty couldn't have been hearing things like that, it was just wishful thinking. Surely the whole entire moment wouldn't start jumping, or dancing.  
But she couldn't be negative. If she was, the slime could sense it and the whole thing might blow up, or explode in a million pieces.—

As if on cue, the torch that Libby had held from over one hundred and four years burst into flames, scaring the shit out of Kitty. While the boys found it amazing that such a feat could happen because of a little Jackie Wilson; Kitty jumped, shrieking before ducking from the imaginary shrapnel.

Ray was giddy, excited that it actually worked! This would surely be enough to get the people of New York behind them. Using Angie's Nintendo controller, Ray pushed a button that made the statue pick up its feet, pulling it from the platform and forcing her to walk through the Hudson River on its way to Manhattan.

"Man, I can't wait to see people's faces when we come on shore! This should really get the city's positive energy flowing, huh, Venkie!" Ray exclaimed, his voice echoing on the bay.

"Keep kicking, Libby! You make this work, we'll pop for a a weekend in Vegas with the Jolly Green Giant!"

Kitty looked down the stairwell as the boys were too busy looking out front. She watched slowly as the muck and nasty water from the Hudson River began to seep in to the main cavity of the statue, flooding the bottom half as the water continued to rise. Kitty was in shock, her mouth agape and eyes widened. Yep, this was how she was gonna die.

"Uhh… guys?" Kitty asked, earning only the oblivious glance of Egon. He was so excited about the statue moving at when his eyes focused on the rushing water that she could watch the happiness in him drain.

"Uhh.. Ray?"  
"Yeah!" Ray said, his eyes focused on the skyline.  
"Can you keep her in shallow water?"  
"Sure." Ray silently questioned, but didn't poke too much farther.

The water of the Hudson River only got to the Statues eyes, just high enough to keep their boots dry. Any higher and the Statue of Liberty might have sunken to the bottom of the river, bringing the Ghostbusters with it; again,_ Death by Ghostbuster_.  
What a headline _that_ would have been!

* * *

Somehow, can't imagine how, but someone had called the police, saying four guys in grey suits had kidnapped the Statue of Liberty and that Liberty Island was empty. Thinking it was nothing more than another David Copperfield thing, they sent out two police officers to check it out. They came back on the radio saying that they Statue was missing from Liberty Island, but they had found her, making her way across the Hudson while the Motown tune 'Higher and Higher' played over mega phone. After the calls they had been getting about park benches chasing down people, the Police Commissioner simply shrugged his shoulders thinking 'Why not?"

In a matter of minutes, The Ghostbusters and the Statue of Liberty made their way through the eerily empty streets of Manhattan as Ray skillfully dodged the massive buildings. Who says Tertis was a waste of time?

Lead by a barricade of police car and motorcycles alike, the rescue mission turned parade made its way through downtown. The people where cheering once again at the sight of the Statue from behind police barricades, some of them even belting out the lyrics to the song, if they knew them. The sirens of the police cars and the cheering of the crowds below couldn't block out the song from the massive speakers as it continued on the next verse.

"_I'm so glad,  
I finally found you.  
Yes that one,  
in a million girl."_

The copper sandal of the statues stomped on the asphalt, shaking the ground for the people just standing and cheering.

"_So now with,  
My loving arms around you, honey.  
I can stand up,  
And face the world!"_

"It's a love fest, New York!" Peter shouted through the PA system, trying his hardest to get the cheering people of New York so sing along, egging the slime to keep doing what it was doing. "Come on! Sing it out!" Ray shouted down at the people on the ground. They needed to get people in a good mood, and what could have been better than the Statue of Liberty singing 'Higher and Higher'. The song itself was such a happy song that no one in a twenty block radius could be upset.

_"I said your love,_  
_Keep on lifting me._  
_Higher and higher! (Higher!)"_

The police bikes and cars seemed to knew to stay out fo the way of the Statues massive feet., Even with Ray at the controls, he still wasn't completely in control.

_"You love,_  
_Keeping on lifting,_  
_Lifting me,_  
_Higher and higher! (Higher!)_

"Your love is liftin' me higher and higher!" Peter sang, off-key into the PA system, his tune-less voice carrying over the lower side of Manhattan.  
"You sing!" Winston shouted, to the people below. The Ghostbusters had been used to this kind of exposer, the people cheering and congratulating them – Kitty on the other hand was just not that used to it. Kitty peaked her head over the ridge of Libby's crown, staring down at the people waving below her. They cheering relentlessly and even waved at them as the statue walked by. Her fear of heights had to wait, as she waved down to the people below, actually taking some enjoyment out of the whole ordeal.

"We're running out of time, Ray." Egon said, looking down again at his watch, five minutes until the New Year.  
"Can't you make her go any faster?"  
"I'm afraid the vibrations would shake her to pieces. We should have padded her feet." Ray said, looking at Egon. Egon scofted, laughing at the idea in his head. "I don't think they make Nikes in her size, Ray."

"Ah, don't worry, she's tough." Peter said, sticking his hand outside of the crown and patting the national monument on the head lovingly.. "She's a harbor chick!"

Slowly, as fast as a national monument could go, they made their way to the Museum. The four of them thought a plan after they broke through the wall of ooze surrounding the building. They decided, without really knowing the consequences of it, to agree to Peter's idea of completely winging it and hoping for the best.

* * *

My computer died last weekend.  
I had written this chapter before it died.  
I almost cried when my friend told me that I'd need a new hard drive, wiping any chapter I hadn't posted already.  
But then he surprised me and saved three files: Music, Pictures, and Fiction.  
Yay.

As my favorite Blues Brother said  
_"The next one is gonna be dynamite... Huge. You'll see."_

~pure.


	21. The Ghostbusters vs The Carpathian

I do not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Angie and Kitty Reed, and Remy Safar

* * *

The clock ticked ever closer to midnight, and when the clock would strike twelve, Vigo the Carpathian would come back to life. It was what they all feared, minus Janosz, who for some reason wanted the end of the world to come just a little bit faster. The girls weren't sure exactly what Vigo had over the strange man to make him do his dirty work, but for some reason Janosz was Vigo's biggest fan, and likely, the last.

Dana did fantastic with her doe-eyed/love look, flashing her prettiest smile and blinking her eyes a ton. Vigo may have had Janosz under a certain kind of spell, but Dana's was stronger, it seemed. She was even able to convince Janosz to let Dana and Angie into the main rotunda, watching from a distance as Oscar laid before the painting of the Moldavian Tyrant.

The pink aura of Vigo radiated from the painting, targeted at young Oscar as he laid on the pillow at the center of the altar. Slowly, the tyrants energy began to possess young Oscar, but wouldn't react full power until after the stroke of midnight and the new millennium had arrived.

With a glass of sparkling grape juice in a party glass, Janosz slipped on the rim of the glass vulgarly, slurping away at the non-alcoholic drink. With a satisfying sigh, Janosz looked to the painting, highly anticipating the events that would soon occur.

"Four minutes to go, and then…" Janosz said, looking lovingly at the painting. "Party times."

Angie and Dana felt useless, trapped by the madman and his haunting painting, and young Oscar would soon pay for it. Slowly, the vision of Vigo could be seen over Oscar's own features. Oscar's brown eyes turning a pale blue, his fine blond hair seemingly growing by the second; the image of Vigo's face began to blur with Oscar's, making it difficult to see who was who.

"It's happening! It's really happening!" Janosz said, shocked that the homemade-God actually came through with his plans for world domination. He shrieked like Dr. Frankenstein must have as he saw his creation spring to life, just before murdering people and being chased by angry villagers with pitchforks.

From high above the glass rotunda of the restoration room, the glowing pink slime began to part, showing behind it a figure that until recently had been stationary on Liberty Island.

"No! Go away! Go away from here!" Janosz shouted at the statue as she almost peeked in to see what all the fuzz was about. Angie and Dana saw the opportunity that had opened up, and moved quickly before it disappeared completely. While Janosz tried to reason with Libby, Dana and Angie ran quickly to the altar, pulling Oscar away from the pink energy that Vigo's painting gave off. Dana scooped Oscar up in his arms as the supernatural growl of Vigo irrupted.

In all her patina-ed glory, the Statue of Liberty lifted her torch high above her head (and several high-raises in the Manhattan area.) From beyond the commotion, they all could hear the cheering of the people outside, and even some of the voices from within the statue herself. The loudest, without competition, was a male voice shouting to the point when his voice sounded rough: "I love you when you rough house!"

The Statue of Liberty slammed down her torch on the glass ceiling, shattering the only thing standing in the way of her and Vigo the Carpathian. Glass shards and steel supports fell from the ceiling, busting down and crushing some of the delicately put candles that surrounded the altar.

From within the crown of the statue, four black ropes fell to the marble flooring of the restoration room in a heap. Janosz groaned loudly, shouting away that this couldn't be happening as four figures in grey jumpsuits began to slide down the rope.

Angie and Dana smiled at their heroes as the Ghostbusters carefully slid down the ropes.

"Oh, Oscar, look!" Dana said, turning her child around to see the men that were, without a doubt about to save them.

Their boots connected heavily to the marble flooring. Peter looked around, his eyes looking searching for someone specific. It would have been less impressive if he had just said that his eyes needed a little time to adjust to the bright lights of the Art Museum. "Happy New Year."

"Do you know who this is?" Janosz asked, waving to the painting in the center of the room. "He is Vigo! You are like the buzzing of flies to him!" It took that long for Janosz to look over at the canvas and realize his leader, his God, the reason he was doing all this was gone, disappeared from the canvas all together.

Peter stood his head at the sight. "Oh, Johnny did you back the wrong horse. Will you hose him, please?"

"Hose him!" Ray repeated, charging up the slime blower for just a minute before unleashing a tidal wave of pink slime on the man, knocking him from his feet. He whined and complained, but after about four or five gallons of the stuff, he had finally settled down into la-la-land to have sweet dreams.

"One down."  
"On the ground." Ray nodded to Winston as he had the feeling like something wasn't resolved yet. Like it was a massive wall to climb, with the coating of slime and everything; why wasn't the actual battle just as tough?

Dana was the first of the girls to move from behind the concrete pillar, walking straight to Peter with that same goo-goo look in her eyes that she faked for Janosz. Dana was quiet until begin right by Peter's side – Angie on the other hand, took a different approach.

"Ray!" She shouted, before starting off in a sprint to meet in the center of the restoration room. In seconds she had wrapped her arms around Ray's neck, pulling into numerous kisses, whether he liked them or not.  
Luckily, he didn't mind them so much.

"I – never – thought – I'd – see – you – a- gain!" She said, talking only in-between the little kisses she gave him that ranged all over his face and neck. He laughed momentarily, trying to get a hold on her for a moment to maybe even calm her down.

"I told you I wasn't leaving." Ray said with a confident smile as he held on tightly to Angie as she smiled wide.

"Boy, am I –" Dana said quickly, before kissing Peter on the lips. "- Glad to see you." Peter smiled quickly at the statement, before Angie could say anything about him smiling and not smirking. Peter grabbed little Oscar out of Dana's hands as the child cooed, happy not to be possessed by Vigo the Carpathian.

Dana looked down at the head of the restoration department as he took a sweet nap on the hard marble floor. Silently, his chest rose up and down as his breathing slowed down to a normal pace. "Is he – dead?"

"Uh-uh." Ray said definitively, looking down at Janosz as he rested peacefully, Angie's arms still wrapped around Ray neck. "This slime is positively charged. He'll wake up feeling like a million bucks."

"Whoa! This gentleman is a little bit ripe!" Peter exclaimed, lifting Oscar from under his arms while simultaneously handing the child to Dana as she backed up only a foot or so, refusing to take the stinky baby for in her mind '_it was Peter's turn_'.  
"That's all right, my friend, I think I had an accident, too."

Egon's EMF meter buzzed loudly in his hand, detecting something was about to happen as an unearthly wind began to pick up inside the building. Of course they weren't done, it was too easy, Egon thought. They all felt the gust of wind circling around them quickly; an anomaly in everything that science had ever stood for. Then again, there was also nothing in the Science 101 about ghosts or mood slime, so I guess anything it possible.

Suddenly an entire branch of lighting crashed down behind them, giving the already anxious Ghostbusters something to jump at. All of the turned to face the heap of scrap metal, not realizing the diversion before it was too late. Black piping quickly wrapped around Dana's arms and torso, holding her tightly as she shrieked.

The boys ran over to her quickly, pulling at the industrial hose and trying to break it in any way possible. She struggled in the bounds of the hose, trying her best to get out of it on her own, but found it useless. Peter jogged over quickly, Oscar still in hand.

"No! Get him away!" Dana shouted over the noisy wind as she continued to wiggled and try her best to get out of the binds. Peter took Oscar quickly and tried his best to hide him out of sight of whatever was attacking. "Get a knife or something! We gotta cut her out of this!" Ray shouted as he pulled against the hose, having no such luck against it.

Suddenly, the wind stopped. It was silent once more in the restoration room as not a single thing moved. Even the EMF detector stopped, meaning something either disappeared, or no longer needed the energy field around it to help it manifest.

"Uh-oh." Egon said, saying what everyone else was thinking.

Vigo the Carpathian appeared, quickly fading into this realm as a full-fledged deity. In the flesh, he walked to the center of the room, getting his bearings on the world that he had abandoned for so long. He grinned a toothy grin as his reign of tyranny could continue.

"Lord Vigo!" A female voice shouted from across the room, pulling the tyrants head towards the shadows as the beautiful young woman had her arms wrapped around another young girl, who not two minutes ago was showering Ray with love.

"Remy?" Ray said breathlessly as he tried to take in the sight before him, almost as insane as a 16th century ghost coming back to take over the world.

Remy Safar, the once beautiful young woman and newest Ghostbuster recruit, hobbled over to the specter. Her fine hair blown out to wide proportions, her 'flawless' skin now riddled with cuts and scrapes, her clothes ripped and tattered; she looked like she'd gone through hell and back.

With a wide-eyed look to her, she grinned at the sight of Vigo, with her fingers wrapped tightly around a rouge shard of glass, holding it close to Angie's jugular.

"Lord Vigo." She said again, ignoring her employers while at the same time holding one of their girlfriends hostage. "I bring you a vessel. A child. So that you may live on in the new millennium."  
"A child?" Angie shouted, putting relentlessly on Remy's arm with no luck. "I'm not a child. I'm a little short for my age, but I am certainly not a –"  
"Silence!" Remy said, pressing the shard of glass deeper to her neck, on the verge of cutting flesh. "It's not you."

Angie was speechless. None of the words in her head seemed to making it outside of herself before lord Vigo began to walk towards the pair. Angie struggled against Remy's grip, but she was too strong, she didn't even react to Angie squirming in her arms. Vigo's boots clicked along the marble flooring as he reached his hand out to Angie, waving it slowly over Angie's body before pausing, hovering over her stomach. Remy and Vigo shared the same toothy, evil grin while Angie felt the blood fall from her face.

The one that Vigo wanted, the vessel, the human body that Vigo wanted didn't have to be Oscar, Janosz simply suggested it. It could be any human, any child. Right then and there, Vigo's smile grew as he now realized that he had doubled his chances of surviving in the new millennium, with Dana's baby eight month old or Angie's unborn child.

Angie's legs gave out momentarily at the notion, the heaviness of the situation too much for her to bear all at once. Surely he had to be mistaken – but how many Gods do you know that are wrong about this sort of thing? She looked over quickly at Ray, his facial expression matching hers of immense shock.

"_Perfect_ – " Vigo began, only to interrupted by a seriously pissed off Ghostbuster with a slime blower.

"Hold it right there, deadhead!" Ray shouted, aiming at Vigo with the slime blower in his hands. Remy reacted immediately, acting like an old hag in the scary witch movies as she hissed a cat, pulling away from Vigo and the Ghostbusters with Angie still in her arms. "You want a baby, go ahead and knock up some willing hell-hound. Otherwise I'm giving you to the count of three to get back in that painting where you belong…"

Winston and Egon both shared a look of concern for their friend as he stared at the Moldavian tyrant, done with the fun and games.

"One…" Ray began counting.  
"Two." Peter popped up from behind the barricade, protonus wand in hand.  
"Three!" Ray shouted as Peter and Egon both fired their proton pack.

The orange streams seemed to work against the god-like man, weakening him as he began to wince and grown in pain. The streams were doing something, that was sure. "You got him! You got him!" Ray cheered from the sidelines.

With a deep groan from Vigo, he stood back up, sending a blue pulse of energy away from himself and targeted towards the Ghostbusters, knocking them all off their feet. The four of them fell backwards, landing on either the proton pack or their ass. Regardless, it wasn't pretty.

"That was really stupid." Winston groaned, tried to sit up on his own. His muscles, though fully capable of sitting up, were stopped from doing so. He felt like he was trying to sit up in quick sand, pressure around his body whenever he moved.

Egon, lying on his side, tried to lift up his head to see his friends. He fought the same enemy that Winston was fighting, the quick sand. "Ray? Can you move?"

Ray groaned, laying on the back of the proton pack didn't help his aching pack any. "No. Are you okay?"

"No." Egon said quickly. "Venkman? How are you?"

Peter tried to shift his bodyweight around, to get some sort of leverage against the debilitating effect of Vigo's power. Never the whiner, Peter simply shrugged what he could of his shoulders,

"I'm fine."

Vigo grinned at the sight. The heroes have fallen and now no one can stop him. Vigo confidently walked across the marble flooring to the barricade where Peter had previously been, hiding Oscar away from Vigo's wandering eyes. He slid back the boxes, exposing the little tike on a makeshift blanket-border to stop him from getting too far. Turns out Peter's quick thinking had put Oscar on a platter.

"Not so fast, Vigo! Hey, Vigo! Yeah, you! The bimbo with the baby." Peter shouted, trying his hardest to wiggle out of the quick sand and get Vigo's attention. The apparition stopped midstride, turning to face the pile of Ghostbusters writhing in pain on the floor. Except for one.

"Anyone ever tell you the big shoulder look is out? You know, I have some dumb blondes in my life, but you take the taco, pal. Only a _Carpathian_ would come back to life now and choose New York. Tasty pick, bonehead! If you had brain one in that huge melon on top of your neck, you would be living the sweet life out in southern California's beautiful _San Fernando Valley_!"

With each jab, Venkman got closer and closer to Vigo, not knowing exactly what he would do once he got close enough. The scourge of Carpathica opened his mouth, shooting blue rays of light towards the boys, effectively zapping them, making them all punish for Venkman's big mouth. The four of them felt the electric surge of the energy pulsing through their veins, like sticking your finger in a light socket.

"Oh, darn it!" Peter tried to sensor himself in front of the baby when all he really wanted to do was to shout every word in Carlin's seven words you can't say on TV (Or in front of children, for that matter).

Vigo lifted Oscar high above his head, as in offering the child to the gods in heaven, only to service the manmade-god on earth as littler Oscar began to cry out. Vigo paid no mind to the crying as the ancient ghost growled "_Now we become one."_

"_Should old acquaintance be forgot,  
and never brought to mind?  
Should old acquaintance be forgot,  
and old lang syne?_

Vigo quizingly looked towards to sky, or more probable, to giant hole in the ceiling where the Ghostbusters had busted in using Statue of Liberty for a wrecking ball. From outside the faint singing of _Auld Lang Syne_ began outside, welcoming the year 1990.

The joyous singing outside of the building began to take effect on Lord Vigo as she shook in his boots. The positive energy coming from the whole of New York singing was more than any National Monument Parade could ever be as it slowly began to break down the tyrant.

"Where is that singing coming from?" Ray said, struggling against the invisible binds that held him down.  
"The people outside." Winston sounded breathless as he heard the singing get louder.

"_For auld lang syne, my dear,  
for auld lang syne,  
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,  
for auld lang syne._

_And surely you'll buy you pint cup!  
and surely I'll but mine!  
And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet,  
for auld lang syne."_

Vigo tossed and turned, throwing his blond hair around in anguish of the feeling outside. He began to lose his power, it draining from him at a rapid pace.

"He's weakening!" Egon shouted, surprised at the effect that the singing is having on the spook. "The singing is neutralizing the slime!" Slowly, they all felt the pressure, that quick sand feeling begin to weaken. Even the feeling of finger-in-light-switch began to die down as the boys were soon able to climb to their feet.

"I can move!" Ray said, astounded at the notion of control of his body again as he began to stand up. Vigo, dealing with his own problems, began thrashing around, ignoring the Ghostbusters as he had bigger things to deal with. In a fit from the joyful singing outside, Vigo let go of Oscar, sending the child falling a good seven feet in the air before Uncle Pete saved him, creating a nice cushion between the baby and the cold marble floor.

Dana wiggled her way out of the plastic hose, unwrapping herself from it confines in time to rush to Peter and Oscar. "Oh, Oscar!" Dana cooed at her child in Venkman's arms before hold the child close to her, silently promising never to let him go.

Remy, with the glass firmly pressed into Angie's neck, screamed out a blood curling scream as Vigo disappeared in thin air. "Noo!" She shrieked, bringing the attention back to her once more. Ray turned to face the deranged _former_ employee, currently threatening his girlfriend. With as little words as possible, Ray and Angie shared something they would later call _'couple telepathy_', despite Angie's claim that it was just body language.

While Remy was concerned with the Moldavian tyrant, Angie quickly grabbed Remy's arm that held closely to her neck and twisted it around, pinning the assaulting arm behind the beauty's back as Ray dowsed her with a thorough soaking of positively charged slime.

She shrieked again, from the pain on her arm and the slime on her skin, before slipping on the wet goop, giving her the perfect time to take a nice long nap. Remy was down for the count quickly, leaving Angie and her unborn child out of the line of fire for now.

Ray and Angie shared another look, as part of the '_couple telepathy_'. Ray smiled a sweet smile, his face cracking into that infectious smile that Angie knew all too well. Her fears and worries about the unborn child inside of her completely washed away at the sight of his smile, telling her 'everything will be okay'.

"He's back in the painting!" Egon shouted before springing to his feet. Quickly, the boys all took their positions, even Peter after telling Dana and Oscar to 'Find a shady spot.' Angie quickly ran across the room to Dana and Oscar as they hid from the ghost in the painting.

Vigo appeared back in the painting, growling and morphing into something demonic, something evil, something certainly _not human_. Slowly, the pale, blond haired man morphed into a devious creature that came straight from nightmares. His pale complexion twitched to being slimy and scaly, his blond hair now grey and scarce on his head. Even the demons blue eyes had turned as red as blood.

"Viggy, Viggy, Viggy. You have been a bad monkey!" Venkman teased as he edged closer to the painting. Unbeknownst to everyone, someone else was getting closer.

Ray Stantz, scientist and co-founder of the Ghostbusters Inc., was possessed.

He walked straight to the painting, enticed by the immense feeling of Vigo's power. Drooling over himself, Ray had snapped quickly, from being concerned boyfriend to Vigo's little minion in a matter of seconds.

"Uh, Ray?" Egon asked as Ray blocked to whole of the canvas painting. "We'd like to shoot the monster. Could you move, please?"

"Ray?" Peter asked, concerned as Ray didn't even notice any talking to him.  
"Ray?" Followed by Winston.  
"Ray?!" All three of them shouted at the Ghostbuster in fear and mostly annoyance, as Ray turned around to face them.

"_No! I, Ray, am Vigo, and rule the earth." Ray_ growled, having morphed into the creature that Vigo had turned into. The boys all looked to each other, all having roughly the same idea rush through their heads; a different kind of '_couple telepathy'_, called _'friends that would slime your dumbass in a minute_'.

"_Be gone, you pitiful half-men!"_

"Now!" Peter shouted as the three of them shot their respective packs at the monster.

Peter and Egon both shot the proton packs at the canvas behind Ray/Vigo while Winston worked specifically on goo-ing up Ray, knocking him out like Janosz and Remy.

After covering Ray in a sufficient enough slime, Ray's unconscious body fell out of the away, asleep in la-la land while the three of them nuked and slimed the canvas painting, covering it in slime as well as the spirit inside.

"_No!"_ Vigo shouted inside the painting. In a spectacular light show, Vigo's spirit annihilated itself, exploding in a fantastic show of sparks and destroying the evil that was inside.

From around the entire building they could hear large cracking; followed by cheering outside as large chucked of the pink slime simply disappeared, evaporating into the night.

Egon, Winston, and Angie ran up to Ray's side, helping the dazed and confused man on his to his feet. Winston helped Ray stand up straight, though the scientist was still a little woozy with that glazed look in his eyes. He started off into space, looking passed most everyone in the room as Winston asked "How do you feel?"

Lethargic in his answer, Ray simply nodded his head slightly. "_Groovy_."

"The father of my child, ladies and gentlemen." Angie said, nervously laughing at Ray's antics. It had seemed that Ray had forgotten earlier in his slime inducted state as his eyes widened quickly. In the most youthful fashion, Ray's jaw dropped looking at Angie almost for confirmation.

"Child?"  
"Y-yes." Angie admitted.  
"My child?"  
"Yes."  
"I'm gonna be a dad?"  
"Yes, Ray. You, Ray, are going to be a dad-" Angie tried to clear up all confusion before Ray gave her the biggest hug in her life. The goo-ed man wrapped his arms around the young woman and squeezed lightly, over-come with joy.

"I love you." He said into the nap of her neck, quickly stopping her heart. It was the first time he had said it to her since getting back together. Before the break-up, it had taken at least a year for him to say that he loved her, now, within the week, he is saying it again?

"I love you too, Ray." Angie said, hugging his back, despite the slime now drenching her. She was surely going to be soaked from her head to her toes if he didn't leave go soon.

With one arm wrapped around Angie's waist, he pulled away, looking to his two friends that had just slimed him and destroyed the monster, saving the day.

"I love you guys. I love all you guys." Ray said, patting Winston on the back. Egon and Winston both sort-of smiled to each other, knowing more than likely it was the slime talking. The mood slime gave seriously good vibes, and Ray was just along for the ride.

"That's great, Ray."  
"And I love Venkman... Wow. Real friendship."

Suddenly, a fifth rope was cast from the crown of the Statue of Liberty. Hitting the ground with another thud, like the ones before. Kitty carefully crawled out of the crown, facing her debilitating fear of heights and hooked herself to the rope, sliding down like the Ghostbusters had earlier, only at a much slower pace. She talked herself through it, closing her eyes the entire way down.

"You got this, Kit, you've got this." She said to herself, her eyes painfully closed shut as she swung gently on the rope high above the restoration room, which in reality was actually only about five feet off the ground.

Her feet touched the ground and with a sigh she opened her eyes, happy with herself that she'd made it down at all. Taking a look around the restoration room; slime puddles, two people knocked out, one Ghostbuster covered in slime, the vacant painting that should be holding the Moldavian tyrant.

With her hands on her hips, she looked around. "What the fuck did I miss?"

"Kitty!" Ray shouted, jogging happily over to Kitty before wrapping his giant, slime-covered arms around Kitty's shoulders. She groaned momentarily at the slimy feeling between Ray and herself, but relaxed a little bit when he said "I love you all!"

When Ray finally walked away, Kitty looked to Angie, whose large smile hadn't seized, and mouth the words '_what the fuck?_'. Angie shook her head, leaving the story for later on in the 90's.

The five of them walked over to Janosz, who mumbled sweet nothings in the air as he'd been soaking in it for longer than Ray had. If he even had a dose of what Ray was experiencing, they might just have to leave the pair there.

The Ghostbusters lift him up by his arms, waking him from his sweet dream. At first, the strange man didn't seem to know where he was or who was there. Then he noticed Dana and Peter, and notably the grey jumpsuits with the 'no-ghost' insignia. Janosz lifted his arm to watch as the pink slime dripped from his fingertips.

"Why am I drippings with goo?" He asked innocently enough, wanting a simple answer to a should be simple question.  
"You had a violent prolonged transformative psychic episode."  
"Eh?"  
"Hopefully Ray would have better luck with Layman's terms. "Sorry we had to hose you down there, but you were kind of out of control." Ray said with a smile on his face. His expression then turned rather serious as he patted Janosz on the back. "Hey, man. Let me tell you something. I love you."  
"Yeah?"  
"Yeah."  
"Vell, I love you too."

The two men, affected with psychomagnatheric slime, making them nice and generally happy, hugged each other like old friends. It was sweet, if it wasn't so creepy that the two men, who hadn't said two words to each other before, were now confessing their love to one another and hugging.

"And guess what?"  
"Vhat?  
"I'm gonna be a dad!"  
"Oh, I am so happy for you!" Janosz said, getting another, totally valid reason to hug Ray. The other quickly turned away from the love fest, hoping to find something else to do.

Remy was in the same pool as Ray and Janosz as she mumbled in the puddle of pink slime. Her wild hair calmed for the moment as she rested. Peter and Kitty walked over to the young girl and pulled her up from the puddle, helping her again stand on her own, like the others had done for Ray and even Johnny.

She spattered and spitted out the slime that had made its way into her mouth. Remy wiped the slime away from her face and looked around the room wide eyed and oblivious to what had happened.

"What happened?" She asked, looking around the destroyed room. "Where am I?"  
"You're at the Manhattan Museum of Art. Do you remember anything that happened?" Kitty asked as Remy shook her head, shaking loose slime drops from her hair.

"No. I remember going to the museum one day for research and then… Blank…" She said, trying hard to think of what had happened. "It seems like yesterday."

"Do you remember earlier today at all?" Kitty asked, earning another shake of the head. "I don't. I think I might have gotten a job?" She asked a question, not sure if she got a job or if she just dreamed it.  
Peter put his hand on the young girls back, patting her slimy shoulder softly as he said "Yes you did, and you're fired."

The rude or even negative notion of being fired didn't affect Remy as she just smiled and nodded her head. Venkman knew it was the right thing to do as she: tried to kill a friend, had apparently got in a little bit of a spitting match between Angie, disappeared from a few days without notice and doesn't even remember applying for the job; I'd say that's grounds for firing.

The evil guy had been banished, the slimed people began to wake up; soon they would all have to leave and go back to 'normal', whatever that meant. Winston walked around, silently smiling to himself on the good job they had done when he went to face the canvas of Vigo.

Expecting to see the tyrant in all his glory, Winston was taken aback by the sight before him. _'Definitely not Vigo._' He thought to himself as he gave the painting a good once over.  
"Hey fellas! You wanna take a look at this?" He shouted to anyone in particular. They all flocked around the painting, taking in the sight with Ray saying the thing that was on everyone's mind: "Wow!"

"Early Renaissance, I think." Egon said as he began to deduct the painting style with his limited knowledge on Art History. "Raphael, or Pierro de la Francesca."

"No, I believe it's one of the Fettucinis..."

As limited as Egon was on Renaissance art, nobody could beat Peter in the clueless department.  
The four Ghostbusters had been painted in the best light, as guardians over little Oscar in the center. Their jumpsuits opted-out for something a little more 'period' as they wore different colored togas around their chests. Ray pointing up like John the Baptist, Egon with a book in his hand and Peter praying to the child certainly was something 'new'.

Whether or not 'new' meant 'good' or not is up for speculation.

* * *

"_If they're something strange in your neighborhood,  
Who yah gonna call?"_

* * *

I told you it was gonna be huge.

~pure.


	22. On Our Own

I do not own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

Louis Tully had gotten all dressed up in a jumpsuit – Spengler's jumpsuit to be specific – and jumped on the bus, hoping that the onion headed ghost knew where the museum was. After swerving along city roads, luckily with all the cops at the museum already, 'Slimer' as they called him, maneuvered his way around stand still traffic, doing slightly better than Winston did with the Ecto-One. Slimer slammed on the breaks, through Louis and the heavy proton pack forward, making him stumble out of the bus.

Though once mortal enemies, Louis and Slimer actually had a good ride, up until the slamming on breaks part. They found could maybe work on their problems, making a better work environment for everyone.

"Okay, so Monday night we'll get something to eat and maybe go bowling? Can you bowl with those little arms?" Louis asked Slimer. As if appalled by the idea, Slimer grunted and slobbered over everything before showing off the 'big guns', flexing his tiny little biceps.

"Okay then, I have to go save Dana. I'll see you later!" Louis said, waving at the specter as he climbed off the bus. The hydraulic system of the bus hissed loudly as Slimer pulled away from his new friend with plans on Monday night.

When Louis finally showed up, the crowd was already cheering and chanting 'Ghost-busters' as they all walked down the large staircase that lead to the building, Dana promptly around Peter's arm.

Louis made his way through the crowd, bumping into people on the way through and sometimes being shoved out of the way – but alas! He made it to the front, just in time for them to take their victory walk. Even Kitty and Angie got here before he did. 'How long was I a gone for?' Louis asked himself before climbing the staircase and meeting them half way up.

"Am I too late?" Louis asked, worried that he had missed all the fun.

Ray, in his 'good mood', had confiscated a champagne bottle from some teenagers as was trying to open it. After working to get the foil off and uncork the bottle, he finally worked the cork half way off, even with his slimy hands.

"No, you're right on time." Ray said to Louis, handing him the bottle of champagne. Louis paused for a moment with his eyes wide.

Last time he didn't get to celebrate with the Ghostbusters, he was shipped to the hospital were doctors poked him with needles. Now he was going to have fun on New Years of all years! He was so excited he didn't even notice the cork pop out of the bottle, and the resulting champagne fountain that occurred.

* * *

Mayor Lenny Clotch looked heartbroken at the sight before him. The Statue of Liberty, the one that at one time was hovering high over the museum, had fallen over into Central Park. The center of gravity was too high, so naturally, with the next strong breeze, Libby had fallen over, thankfully without a single fatality. Of course, when a massive green statue falls, there aren't a lot of people who miss it.

As if to wallow in the Mayor grief, the Ghostbusters, with Kitty in tow, stood beside the Mayor as he looked at the green statue laying on her back in the most un-ladylike fashion.

"She's all right." Peter said, nodding his head at the Mayor. "She's just sleeping it off."

The Mayor, in no mood for jokes or games, simply looked at the national monument as she laid on her back with her toga around her knees – spread out for all to see.

"We just had it restored." The mayor said, heartbroken at the sight. More taxpayer money down the drain, he thought, running his hands threw his thinning hair.

Sighing deeply, Venkman putt his hands behind his back, trying to be most professional with his next statement to the stricken mayor. "This probably isn't a good time to this up." Peter started, watching as the Mayor head slowly twisted around to meet his gaze, looking like something that called from _The Exorcist._ "But the last time we did a job for the city you stiffed us."

As support, Ray, with only a little bit of goo still in his hair, handed Mayor Lenny Clotch a piece of legal paper with figures on it that weren't going to make the mayor very happy. "This is a bill for tonight's job."

Carefully, as if he was disarming a bomb, Mayor opened the single folded paper and took a look at the price for saving the city. The nice part about owning a one-of-a-kind business like the Ghostbusters is that there isn't any competition for prices.

"What! This is way too much." The Mayor shouted, shoving the invoice at Venkman. "We won't pay."

The beauty of this business is that they set the prices. The Mayor was getting a great deal from their perspective, and he wouldn't pay? Even at a discount?  
Peter, ever so suave, looked over Libby shooting the breezy as he began to talk with Ray.

"I think she look pretty good here, don't you?" Peter said, raising his eyebrow at Ray to play along.

Ray nodded his head and played along with Peter's little game. Though Ray usually knows better, he couldn't help just having on go at the Mayor for all the hardships he'd put them under the past five years.

"Yeah, and a lot easier to get to than that island." Ray said, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

The Mayor knew he had no choice, he couldn't just leave the Statue here and he sure as hell couldn't 'drive' it back. As much as it pained him, he needed to Ghostbusters, if only this last time.

"All right, all right. If you can wait until Monday I'll issue you a check." The Mayor says, breaking down.

The boys had fallen for that before, he didn't really think they'd be that stupid, did he? They weren't going to get duped out of the check _again_ and face _another_ five years before they need them again? Not again. Peter wasn't going back to that show again, Ray and Winston weren't going to do parties anyone, and Egon sure as hell wasn't going back to the university, no matter how comfy that job was.

Egon stepped up from the background, holding his arms behind his back.

"Sorry." He started, watching at the mayor got wide eyed at his unusual and out of character 'outburst'. "No checks_. Company policy_."

* * *

~pure


	23. Epilogue

I don't own Ghostbusters.  
I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.

* * *

The Statue of Liberty was a noble sign in this country, she had welcomed the immigrants that came through Ellis Island for centuries, and kicked a little ass of the side. Returned back to her pedestal on Liberty Island, the Statue was able to resume her day job as tourist attraction and national monument alike.

Commotion around the island surfaced as numerous news organizations, media outlets, and government officials hurried about, trying to get everything ready for the massive welcome back party for the Statue and an official 'Thank You' to the Ghostbusters for saving New York once again. Different caterers and party planners had been working weeks for this event, only to have everything go wrong the day of, leading to the hysteria.

The four Ghostbusters, with their fellow honored guests including Dana, Janine and Louis, and Kitty and Angie, all walked around Liberty Island, taking in the sight of the beautiful statue.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Venkman said with a whistle as he eyed the statue from the ground. A different view than he was used too, but the Mayor (and Angie) told him no joyrides in the statue.

"It's probably the first thing my grandparents saw when they came to this country." Egon said to no one in particular as his neck craned toward the green statue.  
"From where – Neptune?"  
Egon glared over at Venkman, learning that it was a joke and that you are supposed to laugh at jokes – even when they're not funny.  
"They came from Ostrov in Eastern Poland."  
"Ostrov? I've been there. Good party town." Peter mused, his arm wrapping around the shoulders of Dana.

Ray was in a similar mood. With his arms wrapped around Angie's waist, and most importantly her belly, he began to think back to his family history; what he'd be sharing in only a few months.

"My great-grandparents were Swiss. I still have the pictures they took of the statue from the boat when they arrived." He mused as Angie smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder, in ultimate bliss.  
"Oh, right, you told me that. They came to America seeking other kinds of cheese, as I recall." Peter said quickly.

"Our Grandparents came over from Germany." Kitty said, leaning up against the guardrail as she looked out to the choppy sea. "They were escaping from Eastern Europe for sympathizing. They would have been killed had they not come here."  
"To think, your and Egon's grandparents might have been on the same boat." Peter mused without really thinking too well. It was almost a romantic notion, the idea that even their ancestors had known each other, met, became friends even.  
"What about you Winston?" Angie asked, from the security of Ray's arms around her waist.

"My people weren't taking any pictures from those slave ships, man. And there wasn't any Statue in Charleston Harbor to welcome them, either." Winston said with a bit of bite, bringing down the mood with white guilt. "What are you, Dana?"

"Miss Blue Blood? Her family's been here since year 12."  
"That's not true. It was 1620."  
"Same difference."

"What's your story, Pete?" Ray asked, trying to finish up the line of Ghostbusters, but also genuinely wanting to know what made up a man like Peter Venkman.

"Me? I'm a little of everything. Some Irish, some German, some French, Dutch – the women in my family slept around. And that's what made this country great."  
"So that explains it –" Angie said quickly after Peter 'story', if you could call it that.  
"That's a terrible thing to say, Peter." Dana said, sounding as if she was appalled, but still stayed in his arms.

"So what? It's a free country." Peter said as he looked up at the statue staring out over the ocean, the determined face confident in this country, even when we aren't.  
With a wink, Peter Venkman smiled at the statue.  
"Thanks, Lib."

The rest of the day seemed to go off without a hitch. The caterers got everything under control, the press had gotten the camera's working, and even the Mayor, after about three anti-anxiety pills, was able to go on TV, helping make the Ghostbusters out to be the heroes.

In a surprise to them and the press, the mayor presented them with a key to the City of New York. The large oversized gold key was at least a good ten – twelve pounds. Peter held it in his arms, struggling not to drop the damn thing. He ran around with a fifty pound pack on his back and he couldn't carry a ten pound key? This was definitely going on the wall.

"You're telling me I have to power to lock every New Yorker out of their houses?" Peter joked, getting a live-audience style laugh. "That's too much power, even for me."

The boys all took turns thanking the people of New York for their support and even gave a reassuring notion:

"Thank you Mister Mayor. When we started this company, we didn't think that we'd been even close to where we are now. Hell, we didn't even really believe in this ghost stuff ourselves. A lot has changed over the years, but we have always done what's best, and we've always done what's right. I can't tell you what's going to happen in the future, but I can say that we're all very excited for the future. We will continue to serve the greater New York area, and save the city from Sumerian demi-gods and psychopathic tyrants for years to come.

Where there are ghosts, there will always be the Ghostbusters."

* * *

_Too hot to handle, too cold to hold,  
They're called the Ghostbusters and they're in control.  
Had'em throwin' a party for a bunch of children,  
While all the while the slime was under the building.  
So they packed up their group, got a grip, came equipped,  
Grabbed their proton pack off their and they split.  
Found about Vigo, the master of evil,  
Try to battle my boys? That's not legal._

* * *

I love you guys.  
Thank you for pushing me through this monster of a series.  
That's one year of my life I'm not getting back.  
(And I wouldn't trade it for anything)

I seriously love you guys.  
Thank you.

~pure.


End file.
